Chelsea 2018/2019 Premier League Player Ratings
Chelsea’s 2018/2019 Premier League season has drawn to a close. It was inconsistent with ups and down at every turn, but in the end Chelsea managed to finish 3rd.
I wanted to give my thoughts on how I think each one of the Chelsea players played this season. Below you’ll find my ratings for each player and short comments and opinions on how I came to those ratings.
There’s a catch to this list as I’ll be using 2 rules:
- Ratings are based ONLY on Premier League performances.
- Ratings will be from 1–10 but I won’t award any 7s. This forces me to choose between a 6 or an 8, which should be the difference between a good season and a great season. You can read more why I made this decision at the end of the article.
Here is snapshot view of of the ratings, full descriptions are provided below.
Caballero: 3
Arrizabalaga: 8
Azpilicueta: 6
Zappacosta: 3
Cahill: 1
Rudiger: 6
Christensen: 6
Luiz: 5
Alonso: 4
Emerson: 5
Drinkwater: 0
Moses: 1
Kante: 9
Fabregas: 2
Jorginho: 9
Barkley: 5
Kovačić: 5
Loftus-Cheek: 8
Hudson-Odoi: 6
Willian: 4
Pedro: 5
Morata: 4
Higuain: 4
Giroud: 5
Hazard: 10
Goalkeepers
Willy Caballero: 3
Caballero featured only twice this season with his first start coming against Spurs as a result of Kepa being punished for his actions during the Carabao Cup final. Willy held his own that game and earned his first clean sheet with the biggest threat coming from Kane in the 64'.
He earned his second appearance against Leicester in Chelsea’s final match and also earned his second clean sheet. Ultimately, with such little playing, I feel a solid 3/10 is a fair rating.
Kepa Arrizabalaga: 8
Kepa’s transfer fee of £71.6m saw him join Chelsea as the world’s most expensive goalkeeper. I considered breaking my “no 7 rating” rule on Kepa since I truly would rate his season a 7/10. But, I’ve leaned towards a 8 and not 6 based on the following.
He finished 3rd in clean sheets with 14, a respectable tally from his 36 starts. However, Chelsea finished 3rd in expected goals against, meaning anything less than 3rd would have been a failure. Comparing his goalkeeping stats (successful goal kicks, saves and claims) to Ederson and Alisson, he doesn’t trail far behind. In fact, his throwing distribution and goal kick accuracy is higher than both Ederson and Allison.
I believe the best goalkeepers are the ones you forget are playing. They quietly go about their business and don’t make large mistakes. Considering the immense pressure from his fee, Kepa had a good season. Coupling his mental strength with his efficient distribution, Kepa gets an 8 from me.
Defenders
César Azpilicueta: 6
I think this rating will be one of the most controversial but it’s also the one I’m most confident about. Azpilicueta was once hailed as the ‘best 1v1 defender in the Premier League’ and he truly was. However, there’s been a definite fall from grace as he’s struggled this season both offensively and defensively. In attacking areas he’s been flat as he’s often invisible on the overlap and his chance creation from wide areas has been limited.
Comparing him to the league’s best right back Alexander-Arnold, there is a gulf in class in attacking ability. Alexander-Aronold was averaging 1.7 key passes and 2 crosses per game, compared to Azpilicueta’s 0.7 key passes and 0.6 crosses.
In defense, Azpilicueta didn’t shine as bright this season as he normally does, often being beaten for pace out wide or being caught out of position. Despite the drop off in performance, he was yet again Mr. Reliable missing just 17 minutes of the entire season. Also, his goal in the 2–1 comeback win over Cardiff was a massive moment as Chelsea chased a spot in the top 4.
It’s often a reality some don’t want to face but our favourite players get worse with age. Azpilicueta seems to be suffering the nasty and unstoppable element of time. He’s played a massive amount of games the past few seasons and it could be catching up to him. I appreciate the effort he’s given, but his technical ability see’s him earn an soft 6.
Davide Zappacosta: 3
I almost forgot that he played for Chelsea. Originally signed by Antonio Conte, he didn’t really have a part to play this season. I’m somewhat surprised asI thought his attacking ability would interest Sarri.
Regardless, he made a handful of appearances this season with only one start coming on the final day. His brief cameos should see him earn a 2, but I did like his ability to overlap and deliver crosses against Leicester. For that reason he earns a 3 this season. He shouldn’t get a rating next season as he should definitely be transfer listed in favour of Reece James.
Gary Cahill: 1
Gary Cahill was hugely out of favour with Maurizio Sarri this season and his playing time is a reflection of that. He only saw 22 minutes in a blue shirt, nothing close to what he’s used to.
I’ve had my issues with Gary Cahill all season as he’s was invisible during Chelsea’s brief downward spiral. I expect more from the captain of Chelsea Football Club. He seems a player that is devoid of any criticism based on his time spent at the club. However, it seems warranted that he takes some criticism having openly exposed his withering relationship with Maurizio Sarri. I find it frustrating as I tend to contrast Cahill’s behaviour as a captain to that of John Terry, who gracefully took a backseat in his final season at Chelsea. I don’t think many should look back fondly on the captain fueling Chelsea’s demise with ill-timed interviews.
I’m grateful for what Gary Cahill has done and achieved at Chelsea Football Club. He was once a good defender and has been a wonderful servant of the club. However, coupling his limited playing time and the media decisions he took this season sees him earn a 1/10.
Antonio Rüdiger: 6
I believe a large portion of the Chelsea fan base would have Antonio Rüdiger rated higher than a 6 this season, I can’t agree with them. Since there are no 7’s, I lean more towards a 6 than an 8, this is why;
The argument for Rüdiger all season has been that he adds “steel” to the Chelsea defense. However, he looks like a school boy when I compare his physical stats to the powerful powerful Van Dijk. Blocks, duels and tackles are what I would judge a physical defender on, yet he falls behind heavily in every category. Now, some might say that Virgil Van Dijk beats every defender in the Premier League and he does. Here’s the issue, when I compare Rüdiger to his right back Azpilicueta, he loses in 2/3 of those categories.
Chelsea’s defense looked tame and characterless far too many times this season for me to go out of my way and award Rüdiger higher than an individual 6.
Andreas Christensen: 6
I’ll start this review by adding that I believe that Christensen is Chelsea’s best defender. As a big fan of his I tend to watch him closely and I must say that I’ve been disappointed this season.
Christensen’s biggest strength is his ability to carry the ball and find passes between the lines. It’s a unique skill for defenders and it’s part of why Pep Guardiola has taken a specific liking to him.
However, this season I haven’t seen the same marauding Andreas Christensen that we saw under Antonio Conte. His ball playing abilities have been decent but not up to his usual standard. His defending has also left question marks as I’ve seen him muscled off the ball more times that I’m comfortable with for an elite center back.
Andreas Christensen and Maurizio Sarri seemed like a match made in heaven. The only thing we got were some solid performances and Sarri exposing Christensen’s pre-match anxiety. He scores a disappointing 6.
David Luiz: 5
David Luiz’s has earned the nickname “Sideshow Bob” because his hair resembles a character from the Simpsons. In reality, his performances should be the ones driving that nickname not his hair. Pairing David Luiz’s incompetent defending with his technical ability makes him the most distracting defender to watch in world football. Sometimes he pings a beautiful 40 yard ball to start an attack and then sometimes he rushes 40 yards out of defense to make a tackle leaving Chelsea exposed at the back. He’s got his own the sideshow on the pitch.
He had an awful start to the season where I can count seven different occasions of his actions leading to goals conceded before December. He then had a bright spark with his great distribution of the ball and was absolutely instrumental in both home games versus Manchester City and Liverpool.
He remained a regular in Sarri’s XI throughout the season and certainly had his bright moments. My issue with David Luiz is that he has twice as many mistakes in him as he does bright moments. Ultimately, inconsistency is the worst trait for a defender and David Luiz is the breathing definition of exactly that. He’s hailed as one of the leaders of this Chelsea squad but his performances don’t lead by example, in fact they do the very opposite. I expected more from David Luiz, especially considering that his position was never under threat. He either produced a 10/10 or a 0/10 and for that he earns a harsh 5/10 overall.b
Marcos Alonso: 4
Marcos Alonso is a player that you need to watch 90 minutes week in week out to understand. Some pundits believe that he is one of Chelsea’s biggest assets, which is totally understandable. That tells me that those pundits make sure to check the post-match highlights as Alonso often appears scoring free kicks and in attacking areas. The issue is that when he is in those areas he’s often neglecting his defensive duties and completely throwing off the cohesion of the team.
His stats speak for themselves, but those stats are speaking a different language. Alonso spent this Premier League campaign frustrating Chelsea fans and Eden Hazard. When he received the ball in wide areas Chelsea’s fluidity grinded to an immediate halt. The infamous ‘Hazard glare with his hands in the air’ became somewhat of a regular feature down Chelsea’s left hand side.
What he lacks in pace he makes up for in greed for the spotlight. He can often be found way out position defensively and if you’re watching on TV he won’t be in the frame when the opposing team counter attacks. However, when De Gea makes a bad spill you’ll be sure to find him lurking around the box to take all the glory. Marcos Alonso earns a 4/10.
Emerson: 5
Emerson only made 10 Premier League appearances this campaign with 7 starts. In those matches, it became clear that he provides more support both defensively and offensively than Marcos Alonso. However, that doesn’t really mean much.
I was slightly disappointed in Emerson this season. I thought his skill set matched with Maurizio Sarri’s play style and would be a great fit. However, I still don’t think he’s been the same player since his injury at Roma.
He had a few decent performances this season and games against West Ham, Liverpool and Wolves stood out. However, there were also poor performances where he really wasn’t effective such as the 4–0 loss at Bournemouth and the 2–2 draw at Burnley late in the season.
Emerson’s performances in the Premier League left a lot to be desired as he looks like a shade of his former self. With limited game time he had some bright sparks but earns a disappointing 5.
Midfielders
Danny Drinkwater: 0
Singing Danny Drinkwater is one of the worst transfer decisions Chelsea have ever made. Spending £35 million to fill out a homegrown quota spot which could have easily been done for no cost by an academy product is an awful decision. This simply doesn’t get enough coverage and it really should.
That being said, Sarri said early in the season that Drinkwater wasn’t in his plans. His only appearance all season was a 30 minute cameo in the community shield. Some might say that’s not his issue that he was out of favour with Sarri but it his issue that he didn’t go searching for other clubs in the winter.
His season highlights were his weekly Instagram selfies and collecting his wages. Danny Drinkwater earns the easiest 0/10 I’ll ever give out.
Victor Moses: 1
Moses made two substitute appearances before he went to on loan to Turkey in the winter transfer window. Not much to say here, 1/10.
N’Golo Kante: 9
N’Golo Kante is by and large one of the most consistent performers in world football and does it with a smile on his face. Before the season began I had my doubts about Kante in Sarri’s system due to his lack of attacking ability. Yet, he proved me wrong.
N’Golo Kante’s return of 4 goals is more than his previous 3 years in England combined. He also tallied 4 assists, which is twice as many as his two previous seasons at Chelsea. He often found himself in more advanced positions and was more of a threat than both Barkley and Kovačić when they shared the pitch.
The attacking improvements were a nice change but Kante’s biggest attribute is his defensive work and again this season he was solid on the right side of our midfield. His ability to read play and cut out opposition attacks is unparalleled in the Premier League.
Some might say that for Sarri’s philosophy to fully come to fruition Kante must be sold and replaced. At times I believe that myself, but this season Kante was imperious and deserves a 9/10.
Cesc Fabregas: 2
Fabregas made 6 appearances this campaign before an emotional departure to Monaco in the winter transfer window. Fabregas has done a lot for Chelsea and has been one of the best players to played here in the past decade.
Last season it became evident that his legs were going as he became a defensive liability. With Maruizio Sarri’s new system in place the only fit for Fabregas was to replace Jorginho in the deep lying plamaker role. He made a few brief appearances with his only start coming in the 2–1 loss at Wolves.
I’ve always been impressed with Fabregas’s technical ability but what he has there he lacks in his pressing intensity. For that reason he looked out of favour with Sarri and left in the winter. What I didn’t appreciate about Fabrehas were his comments about Sarri and his “son” Jorginho. Fabregas wasn’t good enough to play week in week out and I thought his comments were unnecessary. He earns a 2/10.
Jorginho: 9
I’ll start this review by saying that Jorginho is my favorite player at Chelsea and I’ll try to be as unbiased as possible.
The playstyle that Maurizio Sarri tries to implement is largely based on Jorginho acting as the central cog. The midfield maestro makes Chelsea tick and acts as Sarri’s brain on the football pitch.
I believe that Jorginho was one of Chelsea’s best performers this season. Often being underrated by many of the Chelsea faithful, he was instrumental in most of the games. He has an ability to control the tempo of play and let the players around him excel. David Luiz for example often found himself in plenty of space to launch long balls as players wouldn’t press the center back in favour of covering a pass to Jorginho.
Often, Jorginho was scapegoated for the poor defensive work of Chelsea’s backline. When Chelsea’s fall from grace began in December there were numerous calls from pundits for Jorginho and Kante to switch roles. This was unfair at best and completely misguided at worst. To put some substance behind my claims, consider this:
The Chelsea midfielder who completed the most tackles and interceptions per game was Jorginho and not Kante.
Jorginho’s defensive work is impressive and his passing ability is flawless but he does lack a killer instinct for shooting. There were many times this season where the ball fell to him just outside the box and he failed to convert. In fairness, he did score in that exact scenario in the 2–1 win over Fulham. Without the goals I can’t justify him earning a 10, Jorginho earns a 9 instead.
Ross Barkley: 5
At the beginning of the season, I thought Maurizio Sarri would really help Ross Barkley get back to becoming the player that was once compared to Micheal Ballack at just 19 years old. I was wrong.
Barkley spent most the first half of the season as a regular for the left center midfield position with Mateo Kovačić and from August to October was performing at a decent level. In fact, he had a very productive October tallying 3 assists and netting 3 goals including a late second in a 2–2 draw vs Manchester United.
The issue with Barkley’s was that after October he never really looked the same. He had two other assists which came in February and April. He often seemed confused by the tactical instructions and stopped making forward runs or passes. It almost looked as if he was quite literally afraid to run at defenses, the skill which brandished him on the scene in the first place. His performances resulted in him losing his starting spot to Ruben Loftus-Cheek later in the season.
Barkley’s stark drop off saw him put in some dire performances and it was painful to watch a string of 60th minute substitutions between him and Kovačić. His bright spark in October isn’t enough to earn him any higher than a 5.
Mateo Kovačić: 5
Kovačić started the season as a breath of fresh air. Outside of Hazard, Chelsea haven’t had a dribbler as smooth as Kovačić since Mata was sold to Manchester United. His dribbling is so good I would often mistake him for Hazard near the beginning of the season. Despite the flair, Kovačić’s strength actually turned out to be his weakness.
He spent the majority of the season competing for the left center midfield role with Ross Barkley, a big mistake. When Kovačić was signed I wrote an article for this blog explaining that he would need to be deployed in a midfield 3 with Kante and a goal scoring midfielder. However, this season he was asked to be that very goal scoring midfielder. This is was quite obviously destined to fail as he has less career goals than N’Golo Kante does.
Playing out of character didn’t bode well for him as he had a very average season. There was a lot of slick dribbling and good tactical discipline but outside of that there wasn’t really much. On occasion he would end up in attacking areas and fell flat each and every single time. He finished his Premier League campaign not scoring a single goal. Kovačić earns a 5.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek: 8
Typically, when a player only makes 6 starts in a Premier League campaign they end up with a lower rating as they can’t showcase their ability. That’s exactly the opposite with Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Despite his 6 starts (he made 24 appearances total) he took every single chance he got.
Loftus-Cheek finished the season as Chelsea’s 3rd highest scorer behind Pedro and Hazard even though he was 14th in terms of minutes played. Also worth noting that his goals each came in individual games which spread his impact over the entirety of the campaign.
The most staggering thing about Loftus-Cheek is his size. He stands as one of Chelsea’s larger players measuring at 1.91 m, making him taller than both Rudiger and Luiz. His technical ability lets him spin and twist with the ball and his size makes him any defenders nightmare.
Although he didn’t start many games, Loftus-Cheek was always effective coming off the bench. He added a directness and spark to the Chelsea midfield that was missing throughout the season. He has a bright future ahead of him but for this season he earns a solid 8/10.
Callum Hudson-Odoi: 6
As a big fan of Hudson-Odoi, this one hurts. Keeping in mind that this list only factors in Premier League performances and that I don’t give out 7’s, I wouldn’t be able to give him anything else than a 6. This should explain why:
Hudson-Odoi started 4 Premier League games, with his first start coming in April in the 3–0 win over Brighton. Outside of that he made 6 substitute appearances.
For me, Hudson-Odoi was the most dangerous during his substitute appearances rather than the games he started. His performance against Liverpool was especially disappointing as I expected him to fully take the opportunity but he fell flat.
He was very, very good in his some moments, but due to his limited game time I’m hard pressed to give him anything more than a solid 6/10.
Willian: 4
Willian is a player that frustrates half the Chelsea fan base and is adored by the other. He’s hailed as either a flop or a passionate Chelsea player who works hard for his team. For me, he was a flop and the work rate that some speak about was nowhere to be found.
I believe that wingers in attacking teams should score goals or contribute to others scoring goals. Willian had a very weak return of only 3 goals this season, which sees him ranked 126th in terms of goals per game. Here’s a few players ranked ahead of him: Sol Bamba, Harry Maguire, Shane Duffy and his teammate N’Golo Kante. He did tally 6 assists, where he ranks 35th in terms of assists per game, decent.
If Willian isn’t scoring goals then let’s assess his work rate. Willian traveled an average of 7.29km per game this season. That’s pretty decent, right? Well Hazard, who most would call ‘lazy’, averaged 8.76km per game. Meaning that Hazard runs about 1.5km more than Willian does in each game. If we want to assess hard working players consider Jorginho and Kante who both average around 11km a game.
Willian is often a frustrating figure to watch, even more so when he’s exempt from criticism based on the way he came to Chelsea. Having watched another disappointing season from him, I think he should leave the club this summer to make way for someone else. He earns a 4/10.
Pedro: 5
Pedro finished the campaign as Chelsea’s 2nd highest scorer with 8 goals. That type of accolade is typical of a player who has a great season, however with Pedro that isn’t true. The former Barcelona winger was very inconsistent and was often unreliable near the end of the campaign when Chelsea needed his goal scoring influence the most.
Pedro’s 8 goals and 2 assists were concentrated in the first 4 months of the season. Of his 8 goals, 2 were scored in August, 1 in September, 1 in November and 2 in December. He then only scored 2 more goals for the remainder of the season. His 2 assists followed a similar pattern with one coming in November when he was on his hot streak and the other came in May.
To play devil’s advocate, I could emphasize that not everything is about his goals and performances matter as well. When Pedro is hot, he can scorch any opposition defense but when he’s cold he might as well be frozen solid in an offside position. His performance levels dropped off quickly when Chelsea went downhill.
His tactical issues were quickly exposed as he always held the ball for too long and didn’t maintain Chelsea’s attacking momentum. It’s not unusual to see Pedro running towards his own goal doing body feints trying to shake defenders rather than just passing off the ball. As a senior player I expected a more consistent season, Pedro earns a flat 5/10.
Alvaro Morata: 4
Alvaro Morata had yet another difficult campaign at Chelsea before leaving back to Spain in the winter transfer window. His season was littered with the same issues that plagued him under Antonio Conte; His finishing remained questionable, his hold up play was non-existent and he spent a majority of his time on the pitch being out muscled and pushed over.
Despite that, he actually had a decent tally of 5 goals in a limited amount of playing time. His goals per game numbers place him at 30th in the league which is the 2nd highest at Chelsea behind Eden Hazard. Those 5 goals included an important brace at Southampton and a goal in the 3–2 win over Arsenal. The issue with Morata is the same as Pedro, if he’s not scoring his performance levels are truly terrible.
In Morata’s short 5 month stint under Sarri it became clear that things were not going to workout. For me, Alvaro Morata is a backup striker who can thrive in a 2 striker system like he did at Juventus but he can’t be the main man. Morata couldn’t deal with Maurizio Sarri’s demands as he came out and mentioned he was struggling mentally.
The academy graduate from Real Madrid’s La Fábrica now surprisingly sees himself playing for Atlético Madrid as a Rojiblanco. Morata earns a 4/10 for his short stint.
Gonzalo Higuaín: 4
Chelsea swapped former Real Madrid strikers in January when Higuaín came in on loan from AC Milan to replace the departing Morata. The move was orchestrated by Maurizio Sarri as Higuaín had his historic Capocannoniere winning season with him at Napoli. The expectation was that Higuain would adapt quickly to Sarri’s system and help Chelsea secure a spot in the top 4. Chelsea did go on to finish third but not because of him as Higuaín was another Chelsea #9 who flopped.
He had a decent return of 5 goals this campaign, with highlights consisting of a brace against Huddersfield and that wonderful finish against Burnley. His link up was an improvement compared to Morata, as he often found himself coming deeper to let wingers run past him and spraying passes out wide to the fullbacks.
His biggest issue is that he’s been declining starkly since his 36 goal season in 2015. He seems to lack match fitness and the sharpness necessary to lead the line for Chelsea. One of the most frustrating things is how often he’s caught offside from a lack of focus. This season, he ranked 10th in terms of offsides per game (Morata ranked 2nd).
Higuaín was a gamble that didn’t pay off. He’s only going downhill from here and I don’t want him resigned. Higuain matches Morata and earns a 4/10.
Olivier Giroud: 5
Giroud played the role of cup striker this campaign for Chelsea, which was fitting as he just came off a World Cup winning campaign with France. Despite that, he racked up a similar amount of playing time in the Premier League as Chelsea’s other strikers having the benefit of playing the entire season.
Giroud didn’t have the best season but I believe he was Chelsea’s best striker. Giroud’s link up play and understanding with his teammates is his biggest asset and it showed. Chelsea were often more fluid when Olivier Giroud came on the pitch and he even provided a target to play the ball out to in certain situations.
Giroud only scored 2 goals which is lower than both Morata and Higuain as they both scored 5. However, Giroud tallied 4 assists while both Morata and Higuain ended the season with none. That statistic tells the perfect story of Chelsea’s strikers this season and for that Giroud earns a 5/10.
Hazard: 10
In what is most likely Hazard’s last season at Chelsea, he showed the world how important he is to this team. For me, Hazard was the standout performer in the Premier League this season by some distance. He doesn’t get the recognition he deserves which makes watching him like feel like being in on football’s biggest secret.
Hazard joined Chelsea after they achieved Champions League glory in 2012 and leaves having delivered them Champions League qualification for next season. Hazard quite literally carried Chelsea to third place on his back with his goals and assists contributing to 49% of Chelsea’s attacking play. Without him, Chelsea would be struggling to finish in the top 6.
There isn’t anything that Hazard could do to have made his season better. The twists, the turns, the touches and the countless goal of the season contenders will make it even harder when he eventually says goodbye.
Hazard earns a 10/10, which still doesn’t seem like enough. Thank you for everything.
That concludes the ratings. Let me know if you disagree on twitter. I can be found @addictedtocfc.
Rating system explained — No 7s
I decided to rate this list from 1–10 rather than D- to A+ because I think that makes things easier to contextualize.
However, I often find that when others do lists with 1–10 ratings giving 7s is usually a way to get out of making a hard decision. With no 7 ratings, I’m forced to give either a 6 or an 8. If I award a 6 that means that the player is trending worse. If I award an 8 that means the player is trending better. This often makes things difficult as I would have awarded a few players a 7 ratings, Rudiger and Loftus-Cheek quickly come to mind. With this, I’m forced to make a harder decision and really think about what rating I’m giving players.
