After Chelsea’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool in their opening fixture of the 2023-24 Premier League season, Mauricio Pochettino admitted that his side set out using a back four.
That revelation came as quite the shock to the Sky Sports pundit panel, many of whom had assumed the Blues played a back-five, with Axel Disasi, Thiago Silva and Levi Colwill at centre-back and Reece James and Ben Chilwell as the two wing-backs.
However, while that shape was evident in possession, it reverted to a back four without the ball; Colwill shifted to left-back, James tucked inside as a right-back and Chilwell pushed forward to become a left winger.
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An alternating shape in and out of possession has been seen across the Premier League for years, but Pochettino’s use of that strategy in this context has raised serious question marks over Mykhailo Mudryk.
Essentially, the Argentine boss seems to trust Chilwell to perform a left-wing role more than €70 million signing Mudryk – most likely due to his defensive due-diligence, but also potentially due to his actual attacking threat.
Noni Madueke’s injury-curtailed pre-season meant that Raheem Sterling and Mudryk went into the season as Chelsea’s only senior recognised out-and-out wingers, yet the Ukraine international found himself on the bench against both Liverpool and West Ham with Chilwell preferred on the left flank.
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It comes as a damning indictment of the 22-year-old, who has struggled since joining the Blues from Shakhtar Donetsk in January. He is still yet to score his first competitive Chelsea goal and despite a promising pre-season, Pochettino has not begun the season with Mudryk as first-choice.
Mudryk looks like someone who needs regular game-time to develop into the player his talent suggests he can be. However, his current form is underwhelming and he’s perhaps undeserving of a starting berth.
That dilemma is one that has seen Pochettino stumped at the start of the campaign and the former Tottenham manager has opted to utilise Chilwell’s attacking endeavour rather than rely on Mudryk’s raw potential to come good.
The Ukrainian’s pressing and out-of-possession work is notably poor and it’s one of many aspects of his game that he will no doubt be looking to improve – along with being able to slow down to produce a calm final ball after reaching top speed.
But, the fact of the matter is that Chilwell has shown himself to be a more reliable goal-threat in his Chelsea career than Mudryk too.
Chilwell has more goal threat than Mudryk
Chilwell’s back post runs are excellent and his height means that he often wins headers at the back post; one such example was seen versus West Ham from an Enzo Fernandez cross. He is a great anticipator in the penalty area and that area of his game is very refined for a natural defender.
The England international has scored nine goals and provided 13 assists in his Chelsea career so far, averaging a goal contribution every 287 minutes. That statistic is hard to compare to Mudryk’s tally given his small sample size, but the Ukraine international stands at a goal contribution every 400 minutes at Chelsea right now, thanks to two assists for the club.
Due to Mudryk’s poor final third and defensive output, Pochettino has been forced to use Chilwell in an unconventional left-wing role, despite navigating the whole of pre-season using a 4-2-3-1.
The lack of other options at left-wing – despite spending over €1 billion since Todd Boehly took charge – means that Pochettino is hamstrung in his options.
Mudryk’s recent injury lay-off, which will see him miss the home tie against Luton Town, means this problem has been kicked down the road for at least another week, but Pochettino needs to find a way to utilise the former Shakhtar man without it compromising results.
Mudryk clearly has bundles of talent, but Chilwell, a natural left-back, currently has a higher goal threat, tactical flexibility and out of possession nous – making him the more obvious fit on the left flank.
That is an issue for a Chelsea side who are lacking goals and relying upon young talents living up to their potential.
