Life seems to be lightening up a little bit for Chelsea fans across the world. N’Golo Kante is back, Jorginho looks to be in good form, but most importantly, Mateo Kovacic looks just as good as ever.
We often speak about the importance of Kante and Jorginho in the midfield, but let’s not forget the brilliance of Kovacic. He’s like a crossbreed of the two. He shares traits from both players and that’s what we have been missing this whole time.
Chelsea traveled to Aston Villa over the weekend where they managed to secure a well-earned three points. The scoreline ended 3-1, however, all the goal scorers were Chelsea players - but I won’t go too deep into that.
Playing only half an hour of football, Kovacic caught my eye and it's clear that he will need to remain fit if Chelsea are to hunt down that Premier League title.
Prior to his injury and catching COVID-19, Mateo Kovacic was probably in the best form of his career. He had 5 assists and one goal already matching his all-time best goal contributions since 2015. Credit must go to Thomas Tuchel here. He saw the potential in Kovacic’s runs forward and used him to become an extra creative outlet from midfield whilst also maintaining the Kante-esq role of ball recovery. Genius.
Chelsea’s trip to Aston Villa showcased just exactly what the Blues have been in dire need of these last couple of weeks. With Kante out with injury and Jorginho playing through pain, Tuchel had been forced to use midfield options that couldn’t possibly match up to the quality of Kovacic.
Whilst Saul Niguez and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have their own skillset and excel in different midfield tasks, neither of the two can execute what the Croatian is capable of.
Well, to be fair, practice makes perfect. Kovacic has had the opportunity to master his craft with game time. However, during their practice, Chelsea was dropping points. It has been scary hours without Kovacic in midfield.
Pure joy was the feeling of seeing the Croatian 8 dancing around in the midfield. Losing Kante to injury yet again, Kovacic was able to make the seemly swap in adding an extra dimension to the attack.
You’d often see him driving forward into the final third. It wasn’t long until he was able to set Callum Hudson-Odoi up for a shot on goal which he had subsequently laid into the Goalkeeper’s hands.
His presence allowed for the forwards to push up more on the pitch and increased our capability for the press. I almost shed a tear thinking about how much of a difference this was. I mean, can you blame me? Having watched this team struggle to find their balance for a couple of weeks, we needed a break and this was it.
Hopefully, there will be no more midfield injuries. I don’t think I’d be able to take it! It is clear that a healthy midfield is a key for our transition from defence to attack and vice versa. Kovacic is often referred to as the third choice midfielder, however, he is just as a necessity as Jorginho and Kante. I doubt anybody can argue with that.
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