Ruben Loftus-cheek, a player who quickly became one of the fans favourites, not only to the Chelsea fans but to the neutrals as well. A product from the Chelsea academy and has developed to be a critical part of Sarri’s first team. As a player, this was a tricky season for him, coming back from loan and coming from the world cup as part of the English team, it meant that he was ripe to be a regular starter. His performances during the world cup and his abilities on the ball caught the eyes of many and the fans wanted to see him showcase his talent as a regular starter. Patience was the key, as Sarri said he wanted the player to develop tactically and physically which finally paid off, as Ruben is more of a complete number 8 for Chelsea.
Ruben Loftus Cheek – The True Number 8
Before he was able to break into the first team as an important player of the team, Barkley and Kovacic were used more often and interchanged between the two. Barkley was known for his ability to score goals and shooting ability but didn’t have the ability to influence the game creatively and perform the number 8 role effectively. Kovacic on the other hand, a player on loan from Real Madrid, possessed most of the shortcomings of Barkley but lacked the goal-scoring threat and ability to effectively play the number 8 position in a Sarri system. This resulted in lots of bad results for Chelsea as they found it very difficult to break teams down and depending on the player, sometimes they found it difficult to control the game.
Loftus-Cheek, who was used mostly in cup games and Europa league games, as a part of the second team this season, he quickly established himself as one of the best players in the competition with his individual performances and goals. As the fans began to mount pressure on the manager after series of poor results in the premier league, the manager had no other option than to give certain top performing players in the second team a chance in the first team for some premier league games, this was the breakthrough for Ruben, as he quickly justified the fans desires by coming in as a substitute and not only changing the dynamics of the game but also scoring crucial goals for the team. The most recent was his crucial opening goals against Watford and Frankfurt that secured top 4 and Europa League finals, two of the club main targets this season.
In order not to make this post too long, I will have to pause here and continue in the next part where I will be talking about his key strengths and abilities, and how I feel he will be greatly missed in the final, especially against Arsenal.
And that is a wrap...
The question still remains… How much do you think Chelsea will miss Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the Europa League final against Arsenal?
I would love to read your own opinions… Enjoy your day.
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