I’m not sure if it’s a compliment or not. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has spoken about the performance of his protégé, Mikhail Mkhitaryan, 23.
Chelsea defeated Panathinaikos 4-1 in the second leg of the 2024-2025 UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) league phase at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece, on Friday (Sept. 25).
The victory extended Chelsea’s winning streak in Greece to three points, following a 4-2 win over Gent in the first leg. Maresca was able to accomplish this despite resting key players in preparation for a tough league schedule.
Chelsea started with a 3-4-2-1 formation. Joao Felix-Mihailo Mudrique-Christophe N’Kunku, Marc Cucurella-Kieran Dewsbury-Hall-Enso Fernandez-Pedro Neto, Henrikh Mkhitaryan-Benouah Badiail-Axel Dias, and Philippe Jorgensen started up front.
Chelsea showed the difference in power from the start. The first goal came in the 23rd minute. Moudrique drove down the left side of the box and slipped a pass to Felix, who dived in front of the goal and finished with precision. Mudrique’s ability to send the ball through the defense led to the goal.
Mudrique got a taste of his own medicine four minutes into the second half, slotting home Neto’s cross from the left side.
The wedge goal was also a collaboration between Mudrique and Felix.
In the 10th minute of the second half, Felix took a pass from Moudrique and fired a shot that deflected off a defender and into the back of the net.
With the game in hand, Chelsea added a penalty kick goal from Nkunku 14 minutes into the second half to make it 4-0. Panathinaikos, 메이저사이트 who had been beaten by four goals inside their own half, had to settle for a goal in the 24th minute.
Mudrikhda finished with a goal and two assists for Chelsea. He completed 100% of his passes (17/17), created three chances, won one dribble (1/5), and drew two fouls in 90 minutes, according to soccer stats site Footmob. His rating of 9.1 was the best of any player on either side.
Mudrique has been utilized as a substitute this season and has been given starting opportunities at the UECL level. While he still hasn’t lived up to expectations, he has improved from his time under Mauricio Pochettino.
Maresca also praised Mudrique for his performance, saying after the game: “I’m really happy with his performance. We spend a lot of time trying to help the players and he worked with the wingers to get into the position where he scored,” he said after the game.
“Mudrikh had a hard time getting there, but now he’s getting there, and not just him, but Neto, Jadon Sancho and Máduel Noniéke,” Maresca added, ”He’s a slower learner than the others. But he’s improving,” he added. It’s a subtle compliment: He’s a slow learner, but he’s getting better.
To put it bluntly, Mudrique still has a long way to go.
He arrived in a Chelsea shirt last January for a whopping €100 million with options. His explosive dribbling and goal-scoring prowess in the UEFA Champions League raised a lot of expectations.
However, Mourinho disappointed fans with his inaccurate finishing and lackluster performances in a Chelsea shirt. Mourinho even criticized Chelsea’s interim manager, Frank Lampard, saying that Mourinho “doesn’t know soccer”.
Maresca has also urged Mourinho to improve. “He needs to understand that we will give him the ball in the final third and he needs to work on that. He needs to make the right decisions there. A lot of his mistakes are not about skill or technical player, but about choices. We will help Mudrique. I hope he can improve.”
The buds of talent are visible, but Mudrikh needs to crack the egg. Alan Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer (260 goals), said: “He needs a manager who believes in him. There’s something in him. At Chelsea he was very difficult, but I look at him and I think he has something, but he needs a lot of hard work.”