Chelsea: Bukayo Saka shows the way for opportunistic Noni Madueke amid pressure on Blues starting spot | OneFootball

Madueke impressed for England but his club form has dipped and Arsenal man is an example of the onsistency he must show

Opportunism is a fine trait in a forward and on that front, Noni Madueke appears blessed.

It was clear at 16, when he left Tottenham for PSV, sensing the Dutch Eredivisie would more quickly provide opportunities to play.

It was clear at Wolverhampton on the second weekend of this season, when having been left out of Chelsea’s opening game, Madueke seized his chance with a hat-trick that shouted louder than an erroneous social media post the previous day.

And it has been clear again over the past week, in the way the winger has leapt into the vacancy created by England’s high-profile stay-aways, impressing in back-to-back starts at the end of the Lee Carsley regime.

Prior to the international break, there had been growing calls among Chelsea fans for Madueke to be dropped

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

No player made more chances (seven) than Madueke across the two games, against Greece and Ireland, and he was unlucky not to finish with more than his one assist, for Ollie Watkins’ opener in Athens.

The eye test tells you there is a lot to like: the wide stance that opens avenues left and right; the trickery to beat a man and the willingness to try; the pace that now looks prerequisite among England’s wide players, assuming Harry Kane remains as a declining spearhead.

And there is, obviously, still a rawness, too: the extra touch when an acute window at goal opened up against Ireland; the rollocking from Kyle Walker for switching off defensively in Greece.

But that is in its own way exciting, the sense even over the space of five England caps - the first three of which came off the bench - that this is a work in progress, a young player growing into the shirt and his skin.

The question now, as with all of the Carsley kids blooded over the last three months, is as to whether Thomas Tuchel really has time for that when his brief is, well, so brief.

We do not know how much stock Tuchel will put in these autumn matches when it comes to naming his first squad in March, but that he did not attend any of them even after taking the job suggests it mightn’t be much. In any case, a lot can change in four months.

No England player made more chances (seven) than Madueke across games against Greece and Ireland

The FA via Getty Images

Madueke must wait to see whether he really is part of a post-Gareth Southgate refresh, or else the short-lived beneficiary of circumstance and a coach who, with past and future roles as the England Under-21 manger, put particular value on promoting youth.

What is clear is that to have any chance of featuring once the likes of Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden return, Madueke must first hold onto his place in the Chelsea side. That is, in turn, what makes his form in an England shirt this month so timely.

Prior to the international break, there had been growing calls among Chelsea supporters for Madueke to be dropped, with his club performances having tailed off from that early season high.

The 22-year-old has started all nine Premier League matches since his Molineux hat-trick, but scored just once more in that time and failed to register a single assist.

Against Arsenal last time out, it was only once he was taken off that the summer’s marquee signing, Pedro Neto, could shift to his preferred wing, and from there the Portuguese scored a superb equaliser.

A positive international break may well be enough to hold his spot for the Saturday lunchtime trip to Leicester, but those numbers must improve soon.

Saka, the incumbent on England’s right, is the ultimate example, providing not only constant menace from out wide but also consistent, efficient output in terms of goals and assists, for club and country alike, and often regardless of whether or not he is actually playing well.

Madueke remains some way off challenging for the Arsenal man's shirt and, given they are effectively contemporaries, that dynamic may be here to stay.

But things happen, players tire, injuries strike, and opportunities fall elsewhere. Madueke cannot do much more than grab them when they do.