I briefly interrupted my sunny five-day poolside vacation to squint my way through an FA Cup match between Chelsea and Sheffield United on my phone, and while it wasn’t the greatest 90 minutes by any stretch of the imagination, Chelsea never looked like losing.
That we’ve been able to say that in just about every match under Thomas Tuchel is a massive credit to the head coach. He’s been doing with a defense-first approach, but that’s near and dear to my heart, so it’s certainly been enjoyable.
Kurt Zouma hasn’t been a primary individual beneficiary from Tuchelball just yet, but he’s needed to step in more often recently thanks to a couple injuries, and he’s performed admirably in the heart of the back-three. He’s your Man of the Match from Sunday’s win against Sheffield United, his third in his nearly 150 appearances for the club across five seasons interrupted by a major injury and a couple loans.
Earlier in the week, Chelsea finished the job against Atlético Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16, and that was certainly a much more impressive performance, but it feels like it was ages ago, so there’s not much point in going into too much further detail.
N’Golo and his twin brother Kanté are your Man of the Match recipients in that one with a rather impressive 9.3 rating.
vs. SHEFFIELD UNITED (FAC, H, W 2-0)
EXCEPTIONAL (9.0+): —
EXCELLENT (8.0-8.9): —
GOOD (7.0-7.9): Zouma (7.3), Ziyech (7.2, sub), Pulisic (7.2), Arrizabalaga (7.0)
AVERAGE (6.0-6.9): Emerson (6.7), Christensen (6.7), Kovačić (6.6), Gilmour (6.5), Chilwell (6.4), Kanté (6.3, sub), Havertz (6.3, sub), James (6.2, sub), Mount (6.1)
POOR (5.0-5.9): Azpilicueta (5.8), Hudson-Odoi (5.6), Giroud (5.4)
BAD (4.0-4.9): —
TERRIBLE (3.0-3.9): —
vs. ATLETICO MADRID (CL, H, W 2-0)
EXCEPTIONAL (9.0+): Kanté (9.3)
EXCELLENT (8.0-8.9): Rüdiger (8.6), Kovačić (8.1), Mendy (8.0), Werner (8.0)
GOOD (7.0-7.9): Zouma (7.9), Havertz (7.9), Emerson (7.9, sub), Ziyech (7.8), James (7.6), Azpilicueta (7.5), Alonso (7.2)
AVERAGE (6.0-6.9): Pulisic (6.8, sub), Hudson-Odoi (6.3, sub), Chilwell (6.3, sub)
POOR (5.0-5.9): —
BAD (4.0-4.9): —
TERRIBLE (3.0-3.9): —