Maresca must drop 4/10 Chelsea flop who kept “making the wrong decision”

The topsy-turvy nature of Chelsea’s season was on full display at the weekend.

Enzo Maresca’s side travelled to St James’ Park to play Newcastle United in their last Premier League game of the season, only to go 2-0 down in the first half.

Now, the team deserves some credit for fighting back in the second 45 to make it 2-2, but overall, it was a disappointing performance from the Blues, and the ninth time they’ve dropped points in the league alone this year.

There were underwhelming displays across the pitch for Chelsea, but one player was particularly frustrating and should probably lose his place in the team.

Chelsea’s poor performers vs Newcastle

Unfortunately, when it comes to the first half, you could make a genuine argument for every Chelsea player to feature here.

However, some were more disappointing than others, such as Malo Gusto and Wesley Fofana.

Usually two of the club’s better defenders, the pair were partly at fault for the host’s opening goal, with the centre-back losing the ball and the right-back getting outmuscled for the cross.

Moving into the middle of the park, it was a game to forget for Cole Palmer.

The usually incredible Englishman was way off the pace against the Magpies, and his statistics make for some unpleasant reading.

For example, in his 79 minutes of action, he produced a combined expected goal plus assists figure of just 0.05, played a single key pass, completed just 78% of his passes, failed to take a shot on target, lost the ball 15 times, failed in 100% of his dribbles and lost five of his eight duels.

Finally, it wasn’t a great outing for Pedro Neto either.

The Portuguese international was clearly trying to make something happen, but ended the game failing to create even one big chance.

However, with all that said, there was one other starter who was comfortably Chelsea’s worst and, as a result, should be dropped ahead of next weekend.

The Chelsea star who needs to be dropped

Now, you could make the argument for several other Chelsea players to take this spot as well, from Trevoh Chalobah to Moises Caicedo.

However, when it really comes down to it, the most frustrating and disappointing performance of the lot from a Blues perspective came from Alejandro Garnacho.

The former Manchester United star was fully deserving of his start following his brace against Cardiff City in the League Cup, but he looked nowhere near as dangerous against the Toon.

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In fact, whenever he found himself in dangerous situations or with a chance to make something happen, he, in the words of content creator Frank Khalid, kept “making the wrong decision.”

Football.london’s Bobby Vincent was also unimpressed with the Argentine, awarding him a 4/10 match rating at full-time.

That might sound harsh, but the winger’s statistics more than justify the appraisal.

In his 95 minutes of action, he took five shots, but just one was on target, took 52 touches but lost the ball 16 times, lost 50% of his duels, failed in 100% of his crosses and produced an expected assists figure of just 0.07.

Ultimately, it was a really poor performance from Garnacho and one that should probably see him removed from the lineup for Chelsea’s next game.

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