Chelsea are represented in the latest Premier League team of the week that has been selected by BBC pundit Garth Crooks.
Actually Garth is now down as a ‘Football Analyst’ these days, a posh term for a pundit then!
The performances by Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Eden Hazard in the one nil victory over Bournemouth at the weekend at Dean Court was enough to earn them a place in the side alongside the other, in the opinion of the former Spurs striker anyway, most impressive performers in the topflight over the latest weekend.
I think we’ll already know ourselves, and not just based on the latest performance, why Crooks, we’ll also not argue with it, selected the trio as part of his team but explaining his choice he told the BBC.
Azpilicueta:
‘I was never one for putting my body on the line for the team. I always figured there were better people in the team designed to do that – and I was not one of them. One man who does it with monotonous regularity is Cesar Azpilicueta. His block on a Callum Wilson effort destined for the back of Chelsea’s net was a match-saving intervention against Bournemouth. Last season I identified David Luiz as the determining factor in Chelsea’s defensive successes. However, this season it looks like it is Azpilicueta who has assumed the role of senior partner in a slightly reshaped back three that was without Gary Cahill against Bournemouth. It can’t be a coincidence that Antonio Conte has given Azpilicueta the captain’s armband. Anyone with that level of consistency has to play every week regardless of your rotation policy. I just wish the Chelsea captain would tell Tiemoue Bakayoko to come to work suitably turned out. The time and effort it must take the Frenchman to manicure and dye his hair – it was blue this week, and I dread to think what colour it will be next week – could be far better spent either on the training pitch or perfecting his English. The great Ruud Gullit said he spent most of the time sleeping off double training sessions and had no time for niceties when he was a player. That is clearly not the case for Bakayoko, who clearly has too much time on his hands and dye in his hair. And Azpilicueta should tell him so.’
Rudiger:
‘I’ve seen this lad play full-back for Chelsea and look a little unsure of himself. Against Bournemouth, on the left of a defensive three, he looked magnificent. He has great pace and looks an athlete but what I liked about his performance against the Cherries was how economical he was on the ball. Having won the ball, which he did consistently throughout the game, he immediately played it to the first available player on his team. He wasn’t particularly interested in progressing matters but seemed perfectly at ease allowing somebody much better equipped to make the important or telling pass. His job was to defend and, if possible, to do it without giving free-kicks away on the edge of his own box. A great attribute if you possess it.’
Hazard:
‘There is no doubt about it – when Eden Hazard plays well, Chelsea play well. Although Hazard spent his 85 minutes against Bournemouth picking off the home side, the game was on a knife edge until the final whistle because neither he nor his team could finish the Cherries off. The Blues played some wonderful football and could have won this game handsomely. Hazard alone could have had a hat-trick. The movement between him, Pedro, Alvaro Morata and Cesc Fabregas was just too much for Bournemouth to cope with at times. Chelsea are nine points behind Manchester City, and retaining the title looks like a big ask. Nevertheless, manager Antonio Conte must hold his nerve. Responding in your pre-match news conference in an explosive manner in order to defend your position as the manager only feeds into the narrative. Talk of players not liking his training methods, or available managers wanting his job is salacious industry gossip. What is vitally important for Conte is that Chelsea continue to dig out results like they did against Watford and Bournemouth, and that players such as Hazard continue to produce top-class performances. That’s how you really judge whether a manager’s training methods are working. It’s called results.’
It’s always good to see the club represented in this way, and well played to all three for their recognition, but the most important thing about the weekend was of course taking the win.
Full Team:
Joe Hart (West Ham), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Antonio Valencia (Manchester United), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea).
