From Barkley to the kids: Winners and losers as Chelsea get off to perfect start in Europa League

In a comfortable night of football, Chelsea beat PAOK 0-1.

The Blues were in control from the first minute to the last, and got their Europa League campaign off to a perfect start. Who were the winners and losers from Thessalonika?

Winner: Willian

Eden Hazard was never going to play in the Europa League, not unless Chelsea make the latter stages of the competition. So in his absence someone else had to step up and “be him” – it wasn’t just about another player coming in, they would have actually had to replicate Hazard’s role in the system – because Sarri is all about the system.

Luckily for them, Willian stood up and was counted. The Brazilian was linked with an exit all summer, but Chelsea’s bizarrely high valuation ensured that he stayed at the club. He’s since struggled to find his place in Sarri’s system because he can’t play the Pedro “off the ball” role and yet obviously can’t play ahead of Hazard in the league, but the Europa League?

Willian moved up and down the left-flank, demanding the ball and carrying it with purpose and intent. He scored Chelsea’s opening goal with a neat finish after a good run to cap off a wonderfully flowing attack from Sarri’s men. It’s clear that the Europa League is going to be “his” competition, and on the evidence so far, he’s going to do very well.

Loser: Alvaro Morata

After a lightning-fast start to last season, Alvaro Morata has hit a wall at Stamford Bridge. A change of shirt number in the summer has done little to avail the Spaniard of his problems. He seems just as troubled as he did last season, just as incapable of stamping his authority.

Let’s be clear; in terms of talent Morata is by far and away Chelsea’s best striker. He even has the skill-set and style of play to function as a target man to unleash Eden Hazard and Pedro whilst still offering a serious goal threat himself. Yet to watch him tonight against PAOK, you’d guess none of that. Morata was timid, hesitant and above all else; sloppy.

Winner: Andreas Christensen

Many Chelsea fans (well, basically all of them) have been perplexed that the excellent young Andreas Christensen hasn’t featured for Chelsea so far this season. The Dane was magnificent under Antonio Conte and is a rock solid defensive presence whilst David Luiz, the man who took his spot in the XI, can be generously described as eccentric.

But David Luiz is spectacular with the ball at his feet. The Brazilian is a real ball-playing centre-back, and that is an essential thing for a Sarri centre-backs to be. So Christensen has had to bide his time, but he got his shot against PAOK and took it nicely. He was quietly solid, just went about his business as always, proving to Sarri that he should be considered as a starter.

Loser: Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ethan Ampadu

There must be a clause in all Chelsea manager’s contracts that they’re not allowed to use any players from their amazing youth academy, right? That has to be the reason so many of Chelsea’s amazing youngsters through the years haven’t been blooded into the first-team, and why Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ethan Ampadu didn’t even make the bench against PAOK.

Ampadu is a sensational talent who shone in the recent international break. Capable of playing in midfield and defence, he could have made a great defensive partner for Christensen – but no. And Hudson-Odoi was a revelation in pre-season for Chelsea, playing in the Hazard role whilst the Belgian was still on holiday after the World Cup. The youngster was excellent and could have easily been Hazard’s stand-in for the Europa League, and along with Ampadu at the back would have ensured that the Europa League was a proving ground for Chelsea’s future, rather than just a way to keep their expensive squad players in a decent rhythm.

Winner: Ross Barkley

Some of Chelsea’s squad players need the minutes as much as the youngsters, however, and Ross Barkley is one of those players. The Englishman has had such a difficult time of things lately, both before and since moving to Chelsea. Even now, with a manager like Sarri who would ostensibly be good for him, Barkley now has to contend with the superior Mateo Kovacic.

With that in mind it was so important that Barkley turned it on against PAOK and played well. And that’s exactly what he did. Playing at the head of Chelsea’s midfield he moved the ball forward with accuracy, carried it with purpose, and just generally looked comfortable and at ease with himself. He even got an assist with his powerful run and well-weighted lay-off to Willian early on.

Loser: Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Whilst Hudson-Odoi and Ampadu are unproven teenagers who would have proven a gamble to play in a European away game, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is 22 years old and an absolutely phenomenal talent. He showed it last season on loan for Crystal Palace and again at the World Cup for England. He needs to be playing regularly.

But did Sarri give him any burn? No, he did not.

“I don’t know about Loftus-Cheek,” Sarri said at his pre-match press conference. “I don’t know if there is a spot tomorrow.” He then added; “there is a match Thursday and on Wednesday after Sunday at West Ham. There will be a chance for everyone, but not for 25 or 28 players – the truth is this.”

That must be such a depressing thing for a player like Loftus-Cheek to hear. This is a player who has the talent and connection to Chelsea to become a club legend in that attacking midfield position, yet Sarri doesn’t give him the minutes and doesn’t sound like he will do in the near future either. That doesn’t bode well for the Englishman.

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