5. Willian is on his way out of Chelsea
Based on this performance, it seems the Brazilian is not signing a new contract to stay at Chelsea.
Not only did he lack any invention or trickery, but his body language was awful and he looked uninterested, which Lampard cannot afford going into this key stretch of games.
Several times he’d pick the ball up with plenty of space to attack, but instead he’d lightly jog forward and pass it back. He was also visibly upset with his teammates for some reason during the second half, even though he was the one not putting in any effort.
He also looks out of place on the right-wing, as he can’t cut inside onto his favored foot, which is why the arrival of Hakim Ziyech, who was at Stamford Bridge today, gives Chelsea a better option in that position, being left-footed.
It was very surprising that he lasted the full 90 minutes, although perhaps his manager wanted to give Pulisic some rest and felt his substitution was more important than Willian’s.
After a similarly poor performance by Willian against Sheffield, it will be interesting to see if Lampard elects to start him against United, or if he picks Callum Hudson-Odoi, who looked bright off the bench today.
Either way, this looks to be Willian’s last season at the club. If he wants a three-year deal at the age of 31, he needs to convince Lampard that he will still have value to the team, and judging by these last performances, he is not worth keeping.
In a game that was completely dominated by Chelsea, they only managed to score the one goal, but at this stage of the season securing the three points is all that matters. They took a big step towards Champions League qualification today, but they need to see it through.
Following this match, there are two more Premier League fixtures, and both are against top teams. Both should be treated as finals. Two more finals. Onto the next one.