"The substitution caused an issue" – Ashley Cole believes Chelsea attacker's arrival made the game 'too easy' for West Ham United

Chelsea great Ashley Cole has asserted that Mykhailo Mudryk's introduction in his side's latest 3-1 Premier League loss turned things easier for a 10-man West Ham United.

The Blues crashed to their first defeat of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign at the London Stadium on Sunday (August 20). They are yet to win a single match after drawing 1-1 against Liverpool past weekend.

Nayef Aguerd opened the scoring with a good header from a corner in the seventh minute before Carney Chukwuemeka equalized in the 28th minute with a fine right-footed strike. However, Michail Antonio's 53rd minute finish and Lucas Paqueta's injury-time penalty secured all three points for the Hammers despite losing Aguerd to a red card.

Mudryk, 22, replaced Chukwuemeka in the 46th minute and occupied the left flank in a revised 4-3-3 setup. He completed 13 passes and three crosses, created two chances and registered a shot off-target.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Cole claimed that Mudryk's arrival released the pressure off West Ham's shoulders this Sunday. He elaborated:

"Maybe the substitution caused an issue. It was all then too easy for West Ham. You are looking at other players around, Mudryk sometimes is a little bit too far away from the game. Is he arriving in the box enough?"

Mudryk, who joined Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in a potential £86 million deal in January, had just 28 touches – as many as Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez – against West Ham. He also scuffed a volley so horribly that the ball landed outside the box during the game.

Mauricio Pochettino shares his thoughts on Mykhailo Mudryk after latest Chelsea defeat

Following his side's first loss of the season, Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was asked to opine on Mykhailo Mudryk's performance against West Ham United. He responded (h/t Metro):

"Well I think he needs to be more in the spirit to score. But normally, today he played 45 minutes, he needs to have continuity. But first of all he needs to build his continuity and trust during the trainings during the week."

Backing the Ukrainian to regain form for Chelsea, Pochettino continued:

"He's a young player who needs to be trusted, we need to trust in him to create this relationship with us and with the team. He has enormous quality and talent, I think it's only a matter of time for him to settle better in the team and for sure he will find the way to perform in the way that we expect."

Mudryk, who has provided just two assists in 19 games for the Blues so far, was a major topic of transfer speculation earlier this year. He was close to joining Arsenal in last season's winter window but ended up securing a permanent transfer to the Stamford Bridge outfit.

Prior to joining Chelsea, Mudryk shot to fame during his time at Shakhtar Donetsk. He scored 12 goals and laid out 17 assists in 44 appearances for them, featuring in just 2431 minutes of first-team action.