After a summer of waiting for the Premier League to return, that was not the performance Chelsea fans were hoping to see this afternoon.
Instead of playing the high-energy, exciting and effective football they did in pre-season, Enzo Maresca’s side looked lethargic and largely out of ideas against Crystal Palace.
Moreover, if it wasn’t for VAR stepping in and ruling out Eberechi Eze’s free-kick, the West Londoners could have started their campaign with a loss.
Unsurprisingly, there were lacklustre performances pretty much across the board for the hosts, but two really stood out to us, including Cole Palmer.
Palmer's performance against Palace
Following his brilliant performances at the Club World Cup and the time he has had since then to better understand his new teammates, we were expecting a great performance from Palmer today.
Performance in Numbers
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Unfortunately, we didn’t get one, and instead, the Englishman looked unsure of what to do for the vast majority of the encounter.
Now, the former Manchester City prospect did not make any huge mistakes to cost his side the game, but he didn’t have any positive impact on proceedings either and, as he’s unquestionably the Blues’ best player, that is a massive problem.
We weren’t the only ones disappointed by his performance, either, as the Standard’s Dom Smith awarded him a rather generous 6/10 match rating at full-time.
We say generous, as on top of failing the eye-test today, the midfield maestro’s statistics make for some unpleasant reading.
Minutes
96′
Expected Goals
0.21
Goals
0
Expected Assists
0.03
Assists
0
Touches
48
Passing Accuracy
26/33 (79%)
Key Passes
1
Crosses (Accurate)
4 (0)
Long Balls (Accurate)
2 (1)
Shots on Target
0
Lost Possession
14
Dribbles (Successful)
1 (0)
For example, in his 96 underwhelming minutes, he amassed a combined expected goals and assists tally of just 0.24, played just one key pass, misplaced 100% of his crosses, didn’t take a single shot on target, failed in 100% of his dribbles and lost three of four ground duels.
In all, it was a bad first showing of the season from Palmer, although one of his teammates was even worse.
The Chelsea star worse than Palmer
Unfortunately for Maresca and Co, there were several starters who could take this spot, but for our money, Joao Pedro has it.
Like Palmer, the Brazilian forward came into the game off a sensational pre-season with the Blues, but looked an entirely different player against the Eagles.
In fact, the former Brighton & Hove Albion star was so disappointing that it was easy to forget he was even playing in the first place, which is not how you want your league debut for your new side described.
It might sound harsh, but once again, we are not alone in this opinion as Smith gave the 23-year-old a 5/10 match rating, writing that he was ‘frustrated by centre-backs Marc Guehi and Chris Richards’.
Unsurprisingly, the Ribeirão Preto-born poacher’s statistics from the game more than demonstrate just how underwhelming a performance it was.
Minutes
73′
Expected Goals
0.30
Goals
0
Expected Assists
0.02
Assists
0
Shots on Target
0
Dribbles (Successful)
2 (0)
Touches
23
Passing Accuracy
10/12 (83%)
Key Passes
0
Long Balls (Accurate)
1 (0)
Ground Duels (Won)
4 (1)
Aerial Duels (Won)
5 (2)
Lost Possession
7
In 73 minutes of inaction, he registered a combined expected goals and assists figure of 0.32, had no shots on target, failed in 100% of his dribbles, took just 23 touches – 19 fewer than Robert Sanchez – lost six of nine duels, lost the ball seven times and completed just ten passes.
Ultimately, it was not a performance to remember from Pedro today, but thankfully, it’s just the first game, and if pre-season is anything to go by, he’ll eventually come good and potentially form a dangerous partnership with Palmer.