Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic played important roles in Chelsea’s defeat to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge last night. But it would have been a different story if circumstances were reversed.
It was another night Frank Lampard’s team would want to forget quickly. The blues were 3 goals down just 34 minutes into the game. And at that point, we all knew it was game over. Miracles happen, but that’s why they are called miracles anyway. Not with the way Chelsea played yesterday. They were completely outclassed and it looked as though they made more passes to the back and to the side than they did to the front. And that’s not what you want to see from a Chelsea team looking to get back on level terms after conceding three goals.
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| What we learned about Pulisic and Sterling in the Chelsea vs Man City game. Image Credit: Pexels |
Pulisic was the man for Chelsea but he didn’t look so good. It was another time for me to realise that most times you’ll only be as good as your team no matter what you do as an individual. [DishPortal.com] On a night where Pulisic played better, Raheem Sterling looked better.
The one thing I admire about Rahz though is his work rate. Sterling is always pumping. Whether he’s on the ball or off the ball. He falls back to help the defense and pushes himself back up for counter-attacks.
And he does this all the time with so much energy until the game is over. This, I think, was lacking in the Chelsea team all through the game. You can’t win games playing like that.
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And although I know it’s tough to play well against a City team that has given Kevin De Bruyne and Bernado Silva the permission to roam free, Chelsea were a bit too casual.
It’s always a difficult task against city. Even Real Madrid could not match Man City. The only team that matches this city team is Liverpool. But you don’t have to match them, you just have to beat them. And you can’t do it playing the way Chelsea did last night. It made Pulisic look so bad after all he did in the course of the game.
On the surface, Sterling looked better. He made a few dribbles and had a great understanding of what the game needed. But that’s also because he had enough chances to make dribbles. For a football player at that level, Sterling wasted the ball too many times. But he always had the ball again to do something with it. Even when he blew the chance to score after going on one with the goalkeeper Kevin De Bruyne was there to finish.
That wasn’t the case for Christian Pulisic. When he played well, it ended nowhere, not until the 92nd minute anyway. And when he did badly there was no one to help out.
Pulisic should learn from Hazard
Hazard looked good under Mourinho and Conte but he was better than that. I always thought he would leave but he waited till it was too late. Yesterday’s game should be a lesson to players like Pulisic and Ziyech. These are two very dangerous players who looked below ordinary.
Hazard stayed till it was too late. I hope other youngsters at Chelsea and at every other rigid heavyweight club don’t make the same mistake. Alexander Arnold is not the best right full-back in the world but he plays so well because his coach knows how to utilise his strength. Arnold also has players around him who challenge him. Players like James Milner, Robertson, and Salah.
If a lion stays too long with sheep he will never know how powerful it is. Because he will go from being a lion to being a little better than a sheep.
I’m not here to ask players to leave Chelsea, but I think if a club can’t make you the best you can be then it’s not the right place for you.
After Pep Guardiola came to Man City, a world-class player like Eden Hazard lost his rankings to players like Sterling and Leroy Sane.
We all know that at individual levels, Hazard is better. But iron sharpens iron. Cristiano Ronaldo had Ancelotti, then Zidane, and players like Marcelo, Isco, and Luka Modric.
Lionel Messi had someone like Pep Guardiola and teammates like Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets when he won four Ballon D’or awards in a row.
These things are obvious these days. Sane moved to Bayern Munich and he’s doing well now. He had a difficult season and it appeared there would be no place for him in the City team so he left. And he can always go back to Man City anytime to continue an amazing career.
Alexis Sanchez put an end to his football career when he opted to go to Mourinho’s Man Utd instead of Pep’s Man City.
On the contrary, Chamberlain (The Ox) who left Arsenal for Liverpool the same season is now a Premier League and Champions League winner.
Youngsters should come to this reality. One wrong move can destroy a career for even the most promising football talent. On the other hand, being at the right football club at the right time can help you to be one of the best players in the world.
