Graham Potter was left to reflect on what could have been as Chelsea lost another two points to West Ham in their waning pursuit of a top-four finish.
Chelsea had to settle for a point on their travels after they were pegged back by West Ham.
The Blues were largely the better side at the London Stadium in the early Premier League kick-off and took the lead after just 16 minutes. Joao Felix produced a smart finish from Enzo Fernandez’s delightful cross for his first goal for the club.
They weren’t ahead for long, though, as former player Emerson equalised at the back post before the half hour mark. Chelsea continued to have the better of the game.
It was West Ham who had the ball in the back of the net, though, when substitute Thomas Soucek turned home 10 minutes from time. But the goal was chalked off by VAR for Declan Rice being offside in the build-up.
It wasn’t an awful day at the office for Graham Potter, who got a large amount right, but it could have been more for his side had he reacted better.
Sticking with Mudryk
Mykhaylo Mudryk was a constant threat while he was on the pitch (Image: Getty Images)
It was a full debut to forget for Mykhaylo Mudryk last time out against Fulham when he was hooked off at half-time by Potter, much to the delight of Arsenal fans.
The mega money signing may have well have stayed at home that night, but Potter stuck by him for the trip to east London – and rightly so.
Mudryk gave Vladimir Coufal and Thilo Kehrer a torrid time on the left flank and also played an unsung hero role in the first goal, tackling Jarrod Bowen to win the ball back beforehand.
Dropping Mount
Joao Felix was electric in the place of Mason Mount (Image: Offside via Getty Images)
England midfielder Mason Mount has been well off the boil this season, especially since the World Cup break.
Just three Premier League goals and two assists before today says it all, and Chelsea fans have been begging for him to be dropped for weeks, if not months.
Felix was massively impressive in his place and even if it serves no other purpose, it shows Mount that he’s not untouchable – especially with so many new signings.
Freeing up Fernandez
Enzo Fernandez is already proving himself in the Premier League (Image: Shaun Brooks/Action Plus/REX/Shutterstock)
There’s no doubting Chelsea paid well over the odds for Fernandez, but he’s already starting to look like he’ll be worth every penny of the £107million British record fee.
While he looked solid in his debut against Fulham, the sole defensive midfielder role he played limited his impact on that game. It was a different story against West Ham, though.
Potter slotting Ruben Loftus-Cheek into the side next to him in the middle of the park gave him much more freedom to control the flow, and his superb assist for Felix proved that.
His substitutions
Graham Potter’s substitutions could have been better (Image: Elli Birch/IPS/REX/Shutterstock)
Potter made a triple change midway through the second half with the game hanging in the balance. Taking off Marc Cucurella, who had yet another below par performance in a Chelsea shirt, was the right call.
But removing Mudryk, who along with Felix had been their biggest threat, raised eyebrows. In fairness, the Ukrainian is building up match fitness having been out of action for weeks.
However, that also begs the question why Reece James wasn’t brought off. Not only was he partly to blame for West Ham’s equaliser, but he’s returning from injury and prone to picking up issues.
source: www.dailystar.co.uk
