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#3 Ruben Loftus-Cheek was disappointing
Loftus-Cheek has been one of the more enigmatic stories of English football in recent years, touted as the future of England, the winger cum forward possesses pace and skill in abundance but has not yet been given an adequate platform to showcase his abilities.
He was loaned out last season to Crystal Palace to get playing time, and he impressed significantly enough to get a place on Southgate’s 23-man squad for the World Cup, and it was expected that this would be the season where he would cement his legacy at Stamford Bridge.
Four months into the season however, and the England international still finds himself out of first team reckoning, and has had only fleeting moments, as Sarri has shown a preference for Hazard and Willian upfront, with Pedro being his alternative off the bench.
He scored a wonderful hat-trick in the first leg of this encounter against BATE, to make it four goals in six matches this season, and this increased calls for more involvement in the starting line-up by Maurizio Sarri. The 59-year-old has however stated that it’s not all about goals, and that he expects a lot more from Loftus-Cheek.
He started the second leg against BATE, and was a relative spectator for most of the match, failing to impact on the match, which did his stake for a starting place no favors.
At 22, Loftus-Cheek is getting to the stage of his career where he has to start making regular appearances to forge a name for himself in the game, as he can no longer be classified in the ‘upcoming’ category, and as such, he has to make the most of every opportunity which comes his way.
