Mykhaylo Mudryk ‘unlocked’ by Pochettino (not Arsenal) as Chelsea answer ‘bottlejob’ critics

Chelsea weren’t entirely convincing, but showed some mettle to get past Leeds, and Mauricio Pochettino may have stumbled upon a Mykhaylo Mudryk solution.

Mauricio Pochettino admitted after the Carabao Cup final defeat that “the players maybe thought penalties would be good for us” in extra time, which led to inevitable questions as to how he allowed the malaise that ultimately cost them to take hold. It looked like Chelsea had come to that decision immediately after Leeds made it 2-2 on Wednesday, despite that goal only coming on the hour mark.

The players were labelled “billion pound bottlejobs” by Gary Neville on Sunday, then compared unfavourably to “Klopp’s kids” by Jamie Carragher, and Pochettino’s response left plenty to be desired for the typical Chelsea fan, with a big chunk of the fanbase calling for his head on the basis of him not being another Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte.

The Chelsea players responded well, proving not only their desire to fight for themselves, the club and the manager, but also their mettle, coming from a goal down to book a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

It was Mykhaylo Mudryk – the player who typifies the failings of this Chelsea project for its critics more than anyone else – who was the most impressive of Poch’s kids, with the £62m man reaching a timely Stamford Bridge zenith, on the same day reports of his ‘devastation’ at not joining Arsenal were revealed, or at least resurfaced.

The Athletic also claimed ‘Mudryk still has admirers at Arsenal, who believe his audacious talent can still be unlocked’. But finally, arguably for the first time since debut promise against Liverpool 13 months ago, Mudryk put in a performance to suggest his precocious talent could reap genuine and worthwhile rewards for Chelsea, and Pochettino may just have stumbled upon how best to unlock it.

For the first time at Chelsea, and only the second time in his career, Mudryk operated as a No.10. And after what we saw, it’s a wonder he’s not played there before.

Given his physical and technical gifts, along with the displays for Shakhtar Donetsk which earned him the move to Chelsea, it’s no surprise that he’s played on the wing until now. He’s incredibly quick, both with and without the ball, and he would leave 99 per cent of full-backs in the dust with his acceleration from a standing start.

But unlike Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson, both of whom have been preferred on the left of the front three in recent games, Mudryk rarely threatens in behind. He invariably wants it to feet, and given little option but to come inside, invariably loses possession.

In a central role, with the space and ability to go left or right, less expectation to run in behind, but more to arrive at the telling moment in the box, Mudryk looked more comfortable than he has done in a long time for Chelsea.

He took his goal beautifully, sweeping Sterling’s cutback past Illan Meslier, and the Chelsea front four, with Jackson as the striker, Mudryk behind him, Sterling on the let and Noni Madueke on the right looked nicely balanced in general.

They lost their way, along with the rest of the team, after Leeds’ equaliser, and Pochettino was forced to turn to Ben Chilwell, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill and Conor Gallagher when it looked as though his side were meandering towards extra time and penalties, with Gallagher scoring a late winner to keep the wolves from the door.

The win sets up a home quarter-final against Leicester, while a favourable draw otherwise will see one of Manchester United and Liverpool, and one of Manchester City and Newcastle knocked out in the next round.

The competition has opened up for Chelsea and Pochettino, who answered some, if not all, of his critics on Wednesday, in a game in which he also looks to have found a possible solution to one of his great conundrums: what to do with Mykhaylo Mudryk.