Chelsea were quite lacklustre in their game with Sheffield United today.
They did manage to take the lead early on thanks to Thiago Silva, but there was not much after that.
In the first half, even Cole Palmer struggled to make much of an impact.
The attacker headed into the game with an impressive 16 Premier League goals and eight assists to his name.
Former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy was left really disappointed, but he felt one player did show a bit of a spark at times.
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Jason Cundy on Chelsea’s one bright spark
Mauricio Pochettino tweaked his attack a bit for the visit to Bramall Lane.
Mykhailo Mudryk was dropped to the bench, allowing Noni Madueke to come in. And even before his fantastic goal, Cundy thought he was Chelsea’s only real threat.
Commentating on the game for Chelsea’s official website (07/04/2024 at 18:21), he said during the first half: “It’s been slow, it’s laboured. I’m looking for someone on that pitch there to take a little bit of responsibility.
“You can’t just have one individual… you need there to be a collective spark and that collective spark just hasn’t happened. Noni Madueke’s the only one I can think of that looks like something might happen.”
Should Noni Madueke be a starter for the rest of the season?
Chelsea just look so much more dangerous when Madueke is on the pitch.
The winger can dribble and draw fouls like he did in the 4-3 win against Manchester United during the week.
His goal today and strike versus Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals also show that Madueke can hit a decent shot with that left foot of his.
Chelsea paid PSV Eindhoven £30m to sign the 22-year-old, and it is starting to look like a bargain after these last couple of games.
Chelsea and Madueke have been criticised a lot this season, but it is something the England U21 international does not care about.