After a generally miserable September, October has certainly begun with a bang for Chelsea.
Following three Premier League matches without a win, including successive defeats, the Blues bounced back in some style on Saturday, defeating champions Liverpool 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Moisés Caicedo broke the deadlock early with an absolute rocket, only for Liverpool to equalise just after the hour mark, at which point most onlookers, including Gary Neville on commentary for Sky Sports, expected the visitors to go on and claim victory.
Well, that certainly wasn’t the case because, after Enzo Fernández had seen a header thwack the post, Marc Cucurella’s low cross was turned home by Estêvão Willian at the back post, sparking wild celebrations in the Matthew Harding Stand and beyond.
While match-winner Estêvão will get many of the headlines, one of Chelsea’s most experienced players put in an under-the-radar exceptional display.
Moisés Caicedo’s importance to Chelsea
As noted on Liverpool’s official website, yes really, the Reds agreed a £110m deal with Brighton to sign Caicedo back in August 2023, only for the Ecuadorian to join Chelsea instead, underlining what the Merseysiders missed out on by scoring this stunning strike to open the scoring.
Even parking the goal to one side, Caicedo put in an outstanding display, controlling midfield alongside Fernández, the pair underlining why Chelsea were willing to spend over £220m to recruit the duo.
Speaking on Sky Sports after full-time, Jamie Redknapp labelled Caicedo “one of the best in the world”, adding that he is “incredible” out of possession, concluding that he “hasn’t got a weakness” and could be the man who brings the glory days back to Stamford Bridge.
Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over the club three years ago, fair to say plenty of money has been spent, but few players have proved their worth quite like the Ecuadorian.
However, one of Chelsea’s homegrown Cobham academy graduates also came to the fore, suggesting that he may be Enzo Maresca’s most undroppable player.
Chelsea defender stars against Liverpool
Despite famously having the biggest squad in football, Enzo Maresca was down to the bare bones in terms of centre-backs by the end of Saturday’s famous win.
Firstly, Trevoh Chalobah’s red card against Brighton meant he was suspended, while Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill all missed out due to injury.
Then, during the game, both members of the starting defensive pairing, namely Benoît Badiashile and Josh Acheampong, were forced off due to injuries so, by the time of the winning goal, Jorrel Hato was alongside Reece James at the heart of defence.
The club captain began the evening in his usual position at right-back, Maresca experimenting with Malo Gusto in midfield, but wherever the England international was deployed, he put in an outstanding display, as the table below documents.
Reece James vs Liverpool
Statistics
James
Match rank
Tackles
5
1st
Defensive actions
10
1st
Blocks
1
1st
Interceptions
2
2nd
Key passes
2
4th
Accurate passes
50
2nd
Duels contested
10
3rd
Duels won
8
1st
Aerial duels won
2
1st
Touches
83
1st
SofaScore rating
7.2
5th
As the table documents, James was absolutely key to Chelsea’s victory.
He ranked first for tackles, defensive actions, blocks, duels won, aerial duels won and touches, also completing the second-most passes of any player on the pitch, behind only Virgil van Dijk, while Cucurella was the only man bedecked in blue to register more key passes.
This underlines not only his defensive acumen, but also his quality on the ball.
Chelsea captain Reece James
Following Chelsea’s Conference League victory over København at Parken in March, speaking on TNT Sport, Joe Cole asserted that James is as good as any right-back in the world, while believing he may be best utilised in midfield, something Maresca has done plenty of times since his arrival just over a year ago.
Either way, at full-back or in the middle, James emphasised that he needs to be on the pitch as much as possible, while acknowledging that his minutes have to be carefully managed, given his treacherous injury history.
So, while every transfer window is dominated by Chelsea spending hundreds of millions on new signings, the captain, who has been with the club since the age of six, continues to be a key figure.
