‘I trust him, he won’t let this happen’ – 3 pundits reveals one Chelsea player Tuchel missed in Dinamo Zagreb defeat
To defeat Chelsea, Dinamo Zagreb just needed to score one goal in the first half.
The game’s lone goal was scored by Mislav Orsic just 13 minutes into the game after he made a breakaway from Wesley Fofana.
Unexpectedly, Orsic outpaced Fofana in speed before dribbling the ball past a helpless Kepa Arrizabalaga.
While discussing the game in the BT Sport studio, Rio Ferdinand, Joleon Lescott, and Owen Hargreaves all expressed their displeasure with his performance.
Joleon Lescott even mentioned that despite his lack of speed, Thiago Silva wouldn’t let anything happen to him.
“They bought Fofana for exactly this reason, to squeeze the pitch, play high, he can [track] runs in behind and he’s quick,” said Hargreaves.
“But he didn’t look overly explosive in that one and I think Tuchel will be worried that they’re conceding soft goals when they’re dominating games.”
Lescott then chipped in: “Thiago Silva doesn’t allow that to happen. He doesn’t get himself in a race. He sits five or 10 yards deeper and allows that to come onto him and then delays the attack.”
Hargreaves then said: “If you’d told me he’s not winning that race, I’d have said: no chance.
“They’ve just spent £70m on him because he’s aggressive and he’s quick. I’m surprised he doesn’t get back. Young kids, they want to rely on their athleticism.”
Fellow pundit Rio Ferdinand also added his thoughts, saying: “Fofana can see his partner is going for the ball, what he has to be aware of is the run. Once he sees that, he has to then identify: “Where is the space? Where do I now cover?” And watch his reaction: it’s so late.
“He’s got to foul him, bump him, whatever, you’re last man. Or, what I would do – and I would back myself like I assume he would – I would have dropped off ages ago. I would have seen that run and there’s no way that I’d allow him to get in behind me. He just doesn’t smell danger.
“But listen, it’s his first game at this level in the Champions League so you can’t really go too hard on him.
“But it’s something that will open his eyes and make him realise he’s nowhere near the finished article yet.”