"He needs to slow down" - Don Hutchison suggests Chelsea star is 'too fast' for him to be loved

Former Liverpool star Don Hutchinson has criticized Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk for not keeping his pace under control. The Englishman insists that the Ukrainian winger needs to slow things down on the pitch.

The Blues signed Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk this year in January for £88.5 million. The Ukraine international had a dismal start to life at Stamford Bridge, failing to score in the Premier League during the 2022-23 campaign.

He's managed to get on the scoresheet this season, scoring two goals and providing as many assists in 15 appearances so far in the English top tier.

Hutchinson pointed out a major flaw in Mudryk's game. He said (via The Chelsea Chronicle):

"Mudryk, who I really, really want to love, but it’s almost like he’s too fast. He needs to slow down.”

The ESPN pundit also criticized the Blues' transfer business in the summer, the signings of Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo in particular. The two midfielders were heavily linked with Liverpool, bidding for them both.

Chelsea eventually beat out interest from the Reds and secured their services, the latter for a British record £115 million transfer fee. Hutchinson believes the west London outfit bought Caicedo and Lavia in a state of panic.

He said:

“I was chatting to a mate of mine, a Liverpool fan, and it was like you look back at the transfer window and you go Liverpool nearly bought [Moises] Caicedo, but Chelsea’s plan was, ‘Oh, we’ll buy him.’ Then Liverpool said, ‘All right, then, we’ll buy Lavia’, and then Chelsea went, ‘Oh, we’ll buy him!’ And they were just panic buying everywhere."

The Blues will face Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday (December 19).

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"That is why we changed" - Mauricio Pochettino explains tactical tweak in Chelsea's 2-0 win over Sheffield

Chelsea secured a 2-0 victory over Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday (December 16), thanks to goals from Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson in the second half.

Palmer was deployed in the No.10 role in the first half. At the break, Pochettino made a slight tactical change that allowed the English attacker more freedom and space.

The Argentine manager explained that his idea was to relieve some of the pressure on Palmer and facilitate opportunities for him to be in better positions. He said after the match (via football.london):

"Yes we swapped and the full back and midfielder also. In the first half we didn't give the possibility for him or the team to find better positions. That is why we changed. We changed the way we build from a medium block.

"Using on the right pocket Palmer, but we had too much pressure on our player, Disasi or Colwill, one option to provide and 2 v 1. Difficult, playing with back to the goal and it was impossible to create chances and we allowed them time to shuffle."