Chelsea’s latest win against Sheffield United in the Premier League showed the best version of their Croatian midfielder, Mateo Kovacic to the Chelsea. The Blues has been dominating their opponents for the last few months courtesy to their new signings this summer. Lampard’s side has not only showed that they are faster and stronger than their opponents but also excellent overall as well. This has been revealed by their superiority in terms of individual levels as well as collectively.
There has been a number of standout performances in the Chelsea team throughout their unbeaten run that is continuing for a long time. Some performances of the new faces are so good that often there lie some uninspiring or overshadowed displays in the team.
One such player who has gone way behind the spotlight is Mateo Kovacic. The fans have taken his brilliant performances casually due to the displays put on by the new stars like Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Thiago Silva. Even Jorginho has been praised occasionally and got more starts throughout this season while the Croatian has been in the dugout more regularly than any other star would even prefer.
After having a superb season a few months back, Mateo Kovacic has been slow in coming out in the banner and it is likely due to a number of reasons. In spite of all these and the incoming stars, the Croatian midfielder has produced a vintage performance against Sheffield United in the previous match of Premier League that revived the memories of last season where he would get on the pitch and put on a similar show when Chelsea needed the most in the midfield.
It looked as if Kovacic has hit his hypothetical rock bottom for the Blues when he was Substituted against the Russian side, Krasnodar in the Champions League group stage game. Kovacic looked restless in a double pivot that Lampard opted to play against the Russian side once he came off while the team seemed absolutely comfortable in the 4-3-3 formation which was revived recently. The 26 years old Croatia International struggled to get into the first team for the Champions League tie but a consensus vibe started to come that it wouldn’t be so long before would get to start a game.
He played in a more advanced role against Sheffield—similar to that of last season when he won Chelsea’s Player of the Season award—Kovacic was a game-changer. There were glimpses of brilliance the stats won’t show- like his intent pressing, but this was one of the rare games where he earned his name on the scoresheet. If it weren’t for him in the midfield, the results could’ve been much different.
Kovacic showed great maturity while pressing the Blades side who were much stronger physically. This tenacity and hunger he showed helped him to drift into spaces that normally none would occupy. Further, he also made runs towards the opposition defenders while having the ball at his feet. Kovacic is best with the ball on his feet although he’s not that much of a threat before the goal.
It is quite known that nobody is compared to the gaffer during his footballing days, but Kovacic was quite possibly the closest thing seen in Chelsea’s midfield since Lampard has hung up his boots. He’s not going to turn into a chance creating and goalscoring machine like his boss, but Kovacic’s dominance and arrogance was a beautiful thing to watch. Kovacic is an important player for Chelsea and a true asset when he is 100% fit.
