1. KAI HAVERTZ (8.7)
So this is what Kai can do!
Havertz started 10 of Chelsea’s first 11 games as Frank Lampard wasted no time in trying to get the “generational talent” involved from day dot at Chelsea. He played left, he played right, he played central, he played deeper ... but it never quite seemed to click for him, despite the hat-trick against Barnsley’s B-team in the League Cup. And then he contracted COVID-19, and not just a non-severe case of it and his debut season went off the rails. This start was just his 9th since those first 11 games. (That’s a span of 29 games, if you’re counting).
Havertz called his own position a “false-nine” in this one, operating in a free role as the central fulcrum of our attack, allowing the trickery and creativity of Hudson-Odoi space on one wing and the speed of Werner space on the other. This worked quite well, even if we still haven’t scored more than 2 goals in any of Tuchel’s 11 matches in charge.
Kai Havertz vs Everton pic.twitter.com/2l5FDlvvve
— Thiago (@HMDComps) March 8, 2021
2. ANDREAS CHRISTENSEN (8.0)
Another game, another Christensen masterclass. Some might say it’s all because of the back-three, but Christensen never looked this good — and this consistently good — in Conte’s back-three, even. If he keeps this up, we might just get to acknowledge without fear of being proven wrong yet again that he’s truly figured it out and has made that long-awaited next step up in his career.
3. CALLUM HUDSON-ODOI (7.6)
Safe to say that the only effect of the substitution heard-round-the-world was a bunch of wasted (electronic) ink.
vs. EVERTON (PL, H, W 2-0)
EXCEPTIONAL (9.0+): —
EXCELLENT (8.0-8.9): Havertz (8.7), Christensen (8.0)
GOOD (7.0-7.9): Hudson-Odoi (7.6), Jorginho (7.5), Alonso (7.4), Azpilicueta (7.4), Kovačić (7.3), Mendy (7.2), James (7.2), Zouma (7.1)
AVERAGE (6.0-6.9): Kanté (6.8, sub), Mount (6.8, sub), Werner (6.7), Pulisic (6.0, sub)
POOR (5.0-5.9): —
BAD (4.0-4.9): —
TERRIBLE (3.0-3.9): —
OVERALL
(update pending)