da brwin： For Tiemoue Bakayoko, 2018/19 can’t come soon enough. The France international has endured an incredibly underwhelming debut season at Stamford Bridge and a first start since the end of January on Sunday provided only another disappointing performance, especially compared to the prodigious form that marked his final term at Monaco.
da esport bet： Indeed, the 23-year-old only lasted until half-time in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Leicester City, hooked off at the interval by Antonio Conte in favour of Cesc Fabregas who had far greater influence on the FA Cup quarter-final clash, following a 45 minutes in which Bakayoko rarely appeared to understand his role in the team – whether he was supposed to hold shape alongside N’Golo Kante, push forward to support the forward line or give Chelsea control of the engine room with the ball.
Fabregas provided the latter in the second 45 minutes and the statistics more than justify Conte’s decision. During the first half, Bakayoko recorded more fouls than he did tackles, interceptions, dribbles or chances created, while even an overall passing accuracy of 79% was on the poor side for a midfielder who rarely attempted ambitious and direct balls forward. Tellingly, Chelsea fans issued him an average rating of 3.3 out of ten in Football FanCast’s poll.
Accordingly, it’s unclear how Bakayoko really fits into this Chelsea team, or whether he’s even good enough to deserve a place in it. But perspectives can change incredibly quickly in football, and the good news for the Frenchman is that he will most likely be working under a different manager at Stamford Bridge next season, whose new ideas could put Bakayoko’s raw talent in a far more flattering light.
Right now though, with practically every game this season being essentially a must-win for Chelsea, Bakayoko – who Transfermarkt value at £36million – may have just chalked off his final chance to prove himself this term. Next season really can’t come soon enough.
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