What can we deduce from the Blues’ hard fought win against League 2 Shrewsbury last night?
Chelsea had to fight for a win against League 2 side Shrewsbury in the Capital One Cup last night, and the game proved to be a real test for all the Blues players involved. The toughness of this examination of Chelsea’s second-string told us a lot about Chelsea’s fringe players. Here are the five key takeaways from the cup tie:
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5) Mohamed Salah is NOT good enough
Salah has had plenty of chances since arriving from Basel in January, but has just never looked up to it. A player with his amazing speed should be tearing League 2 defenders apart, but he really struggled to beat even Shrewsbury’s lumbering defenders. What happened to the incisive winger that shredded Chelsea and Liverpool in the Champions League?
4) Didier Drogba IS good enough
Drogba was poor in his first start against Schalke, better in his second against Manchester United and better again last night. He took the important chance he got, and occupied their back three all game. He still doesn’t have the pace to run behind defenders, which is an important part of Chelsea’s strategy at the moment, but as a third choice striker or late sub, he’s still got it.
3) André Schurrle can’t get it together…
Schurrle has been in and out of the side since his arrival in West London, sometimes excelling and sometimes disappointing. Last night was the latter. The man is a World Cup finalist but his inconsistency, especially against a lower league team like Shrewsbury, is infuriating.
2) … meaning Willian is first choice
The flipside of this is that Willian is now established as first choice. He’s not perfect, but the cross he put in resulted in the goal at the end, and his technical ability puts him above Schurrle, despite the German’s considerable pace advantage. The spot on the right wing is now the Brazilian’s to lose.
1) Kurt Zouma is ready to replace John Terry
John Terry is still at the top of his game, but when he starts to wind down, Chelsea can relax knowing they have his replacement sorted. Zouma is fast, intelligent and assured on the ball, and is the perfect player to rotate in and out of the defence until Terry finally hangs up his boots.