2 weeks Ago By Philip Kimonge, Total Apex Sports
The game that officially heralded the departure of Chelsea’s blistering early-season form was the 2-1 humbling at the hands of Fulham on Boxing Day. The Blues seemed to be coasting to another three points after Cole Palmer’s opener until our defense crumbled and let in two goals in the final 15 minutes. The striker who bagged that 95th-minute winner is rightly the first of the Fulham players Chelsea needs to be wary of.
Will these players help Fulham prevail? Rodrigo Muniz The Brazilian has been playing second fiddle to Raúl Jiménez, but he’s been making exceptional use of the few minutes he gets. He has only started eight Premier League games this season, but he has racked up a commendable eight goals. The last of these was the winning goal against EPL champions-elect Liverpool.
A result that slowed down the Reds’ title charge, giving Arsenal a theoretical glimmer of hope. It was one of the handful of games Muniz has started. When he’s not banging in match-winners, the 23-year-old is busy harassing defenders, jostling them out of position, creating gaps for the likes of Alex Iwobi and Andreas Pereira to exploit.
Whichever center-back pairing Head Coach Enzo Maresca chooses to go with will be in for a long night. Tosin Adarabioyo likely won’t be allowed to face his former club. The defender’s forgettable showing against Ipswich Town earned him a half-time substitution.
Maresca had better take a long, hard look at his center-back options before fixing his first-11. Whoever he goes with needs to be switched on for the entire 90+ minutes, given Muniz’s penchant for late goals. If he’s brought on as a late sub, he will be even harder to contain.
Alex Iwobi If Chelsea manages to keep Alex Iwobi quiet, that will be half the battle won. Deployed as a left-sided midfielder, the Nigerian loves blasting down the left flank, cutting infield, bamboozling defenders with not-so-glamorous footwork before having a crack at goal. If he’s not creating space to shoot , he’s setting club captain Antonee Robinson up for crosses into the opposition box with heat-seeking passes.
At 28 years of age, he is a much more effective version of his Arsenal self and seems to be getting better with each passing game. Cleverer in his movement, cleaner with his touch, and more precise in his finishing. Eight goals and five assists is testimony to the kind of influence Iwobi has on Marco Silva’s squad.
Maresca will need to decide who, between Trevor Chalobah and Malo Gusto, will be more effective in containing Fulham’s creative powerhouse. His chosen right winger will also need to be well briefed on his duty to support the chosen fullback in smothering the Iwobi-Robinson threat. Calvin Bassey The ex-Ajax center-back has quietly been one of the Fulham players of the season.
If you ask me, he’s one of the most underrated defenders in the league. For those who remember Jose Mourinho’s all-conquering Inter Milan squad of 2010 , one of the pillars in defense was the Brazilian legend Lúcio. That’s who Bassey reminds me of- as stubborn in defense as comfortable as he is on the ball.
He may have only scored one goal so far this season, but few fellow defenders are as much of a threat going forward as the Nigerian. You’ll agree he’s surprisingly mobile for a man of his stature. Nicholas Jackson will have his work cut out trying to evade Bassey’s attention.
Strong and fast as he is, he will find that Bassey won’t struggle to match him stride for stride, shoulder barge for shoulder barge. The Senegalese will have to be at his sharpest in movement and at his tidiest in ball control to get any change out of Fulham’s number 3. Final Thoughts Set-piece Coach Bernado Cueva was brought in to stop the Blues from shipping in goals from free-kicks and corners.
He will need to factor in the havoc Bassey causes whenever he travels to the opposition’s 18-yard boxes. This article first appeared on Total Apex Sports and was syndicated with permission..
