Player with 0 tackles and only 4 duels won gets huge ovation for “73 impressive minutes” | OneFootball

Liam Twomey of the Athletic had a big focus on Wesley Fofana in his on the whistle piece from Stamford Bridge today.

He pointed out that Fofana had played “73 impressive minutes” where he was constantly “stepping up to cut off counter attacks” and “carrying the ball with speed and purpose over the halfway line” as well as showing off “vital defensive instincts.”

He concludes that “Maresca’s team are demonstrably better defensively when Fofana is on the pitch,” which will “breathe fresh life into their Champions League qualification challenge.”

Interestingly, according to SofaScore Fofana had 0 tackles and was only 7th on the team in terms of duels won, with 4 of 7.

Fofana can help – but Blues need goals too

There’s no doubt that Fofana is the most experienced defender in the squad, and probably the best too. Today he was at right back, curiously enough, but with Reece James and Malo Gusto both expected back next week, we don’t think that will continue.

Fofana will slide back into the centre alongside Levi Colwill to reform the partnership that had such such success back in the Autumn. With Gusto and James now able to rotate and keep each other fresh on the right and Marc Cucurella in form down the left, we should see a lot more stability in general.

We can see why Twomey reckons we’re potentially set for another charge up the table. But we won’t get too far ahead of ourselves just yet. While poor defending has been a problem for a while, struggling in attack is a growing issue.

Now that Cole Palmer’s form has really hit rock bottom and the team have seemingly lost all their energy, even keeping clean sheets won’t be enough if we don’t work out how to consistently create and put away big chances.

We can’t rely on a full back’s strike from outside the box to bail us out every time, as they have in the last two games.