Rating Chelsea players’ season 2024/25

Even though I hate players’ ratings in publications… by Neil Barnett

The reason I hate players’ ratings by journalists is that I’ve sat in press boxes for over 40 years and watched many do it having no real idea how more than six or seven stand-out players have performed. I never read them.

And having watched all of Chelsea’s matches this season taking notes and statistics, 51 in person and six on television, a day or two after returning home from Wroclaw I had a revelation.

It was, as so many revelations seem to be, while showering in the morning.

I started rating the players out of 10 for the season. And they were all really easy to place. Apart from one player. And that player defined, utterly, Chelsea’s season.

So let’s go in squad number order.

1 Robert Sánchez
34 games, 10 clean sheets
6/10
The best goalkeeper in the club, and by a distance, whatever many supporters say. His important saves, often at critical times, and his sometime authority on crosses, won Chelsea many points. Unfortunately his errors, mostly decision making or distribution rather than handling, cost the team negatively. So he doesn’t quite make the consistent 7/10, but he’s not kicked into touch. Champions League quality? Hmm…

2 Axel Disasi
15+2 games, 2 goals
5/10
Lost pre-season to a summer hernia operation and never gained the previous campaign’s fitness. Worse still for him, he’s a unit and needs that fitness, and due to the plethora of centre-backs (when everyone was fit) he found himself at right-back a lot of the time where he needs that top fitness to hit top pace. Seems like a good dressing room personality. His January loan to Aston Villa got him some Champions League football and would have looked crazy if they’d qualified for the Champions League and Chelsea hadn’t. But in the end will they want to buy him?

3 Marc Cucurella
41+7 games, 6 goals
8/10
Unbelievably consistent. A wonderfully typical Spanish player if I were trying to paint one, neat, tidy (his play, not his hair, magnificent as it is), pass and move, lots of touches but not too many in one moment. His defensive reading has improved since his first season, and he’s the one full-back comfortable going into midfield. I’m not enthusiastic about Enzo Maresca’s use of full-backs, and I still think Chelsea would benefit from Marc more stretching opponents wide so that he can cross like he did to win Spain the Euros against England. He could still come infield if he reads that it’s better. It just feels like a hard rule now. But of course he’s added goals to his game and he’s a player who has managed to build a real rapport with the match going supporters.

4 Tosin Adarabioyo
30+7 games, 4 goals
6/10
An old fashioned centre-back who heads it away and clears it away, but with contemporary passing ability to break lines. He played a lot of matches and never let the team down. Outstanding against Chris Wood in the most critical game of the season away to Nottingham Forest, but what seems to me to stop him being a first choice is that he switches off in the penalty area and loses opponents who have good movement. Too many goals have been conceded this way. You can’t be doing that in the Champions League.

5 Benoit Badiashile
18+2 games
5/10
He was so good when first signed in January 2023, but injuries seem to have affected both his fitness and confidence. Maresca really liked his early performances when he could be left to defend one-on-one against counter-attacks, but again he got injured at the wrong time. He’s got such an unusual posture, very stiff, as if he’s got a beam running from his backside to his throat, and he’s so tall it must make ball control harder, and acceleration to full pace too. Playing out he can be the slowest of all the defenders on the ball. Like Tosin, he’s got a fine pass in him, but like Tosin makes mistakes with distribution as well. Maybe a run of starts would sort him out. But will he get that?

6 Levi Colwill
35+3 games, 2 goals
7/10
The most improved player in the club. He’s still only 22. At that age John Terry was left out of the team in Chelsea’s first game back in the Champions League in September 2003 away to Sparta Prague. By January 2004 manager Ranieri was saying the team couldn’t do without him. By summer he was captain and a season later he’d won the League, PFA Player of the Year, and was leader of the defence which conceded the fewest goals in top flight history when 38 or more games were played, and now he was definitely world class. I find two things about Levi exciting. Firstly, this was his first season as a regular Premier League centre-back. Two years ago on loan at Brighton he was backing up Webster and Dunk. A year ago under Pochettino he was mostly left-back as Thiago Silva partnered Disasi or Badiashile in the middle. So this has been a major step-up for him. And secondly he’s had to learn a lot the hard way through his big games. In the Championship Play-Off Final in 2022 he gave a good performance for Huddersfield on loan but his own goal was the only goal of the game and Nottingham Forest were promoted. In the Euros Under-21s Final in 2023 for England he had a good game but conceded a penalty in the last minute which James Trafford thankfully saved so he and England won 1-0. In the Carabao Cup Final last season he played well, and at centre-back as Thiago Silva was injured, but Liverpool scored the only goal of the match three minutes from the end of extra-time. But now in the Champions League qualifying last League match of the season he was not only outstanding, HE SCORED THE WINNING GOAL. And in the Uefa Conference Final Chelsea were a goal down when he came on. It feels like he’s turned his big game outcomes around and everything is going his way. He blocked more opposition shots than any other Chelsea defender over the season. I’m excited. But as JT will testify, there’s still a long way to go.

7 Pedro Neto
33+12 games, 6 goals
6/10
F-A-S-T!!! But… Pedro was last summer’s biggest buy at around £60m, yet he arrived with inferior career Premier League statistics to Callum Hudson-Odoi. He’s never really been a goalscorer. I think he’s found it difficult to adapt to Maresca’s style. Enzo says Chelsea can’t be a transition team but Pedro’s best in transition, flying over space. The problem for Chelsea wingers is they don’t get help from full-backs who disappear into midfield or into a back three, and hugging the touchline he can be very isolated. I’m not sure, as the great Pat Nevin would say, how many pictures he has in his head when he gets the ball. I feel he wants to trick his way past the full-back, hare down the line and cross. But Chelsea overload (or as I claim, overcrowd) midfield and too often lack bodies in the penalty area. He’s scored some critical goals, the equaliser at home to Arsenal, the winner at Fulham, it was his cross for the opening goal at home to Liverpool, he’s provided his share of positives, but I’m sure he’ll be thinking there has to be more in his second season.

8 Enzo Fernández
39+7 games, 8 goals
7/10
As the season wore on Enzo played his best football for the club. If a World Cup winner takes that long to adapt, understanding needs to be given to others. The main problem for him is he’s not a natural Premier League athlete. Constant high-tempo runs are hard when you’re not very fast. But, boy, does he have determination, grit. And a fine choice of pass. He reminds me of Cesc Fàbregas, not as slow, not as world class with the weighting of his pass, but tactically very aware. I think, like Cole Palmer, he hasn’t always benefitted from the overcrowding in midfield, but after an unforgiveable error on the Argentina open-top bus parade following their Copa America triumph last summer, he has performed with grace and responsibility throughout the season. What’s more, when he was struggling for form in autumn and Lavia finally got fit, Maresca left him out of the starting XI away to Liverpool, at home to Newcastle, away to Manchester United and at home to Arsenal, consecutive League games, and there was no throwing toys out of the pram. Meanwhile, he led the side at home to Noah and fought his way back. Now he’s started turning up in big moments: the winner at home to Tottenham, the opening goal at home to Liverpool, the equaliser in the Uefa Conference Final. I’m intrigued to watch him in the Champions League.

10 Mykhailo Mudryk
9+6 games, 3 goals
4/10
Does anyone understand what’s going on? The ‘A’ sample on his November drug test which he failed, proving positive, he was banned and has been banned now for 37 games in all competitions. But all the media was ever told was that the ‘B’ sample results were still to be confirmed. Well, they must have been by now. They must have been a long time ago, because if the ‘B’ sample were to show negative, and confirm he hasn’t acted in breach of doping laws, and it’s taken this long to do that, he’d surely sue the testers or authorities for millions of euros/pounds/whatever! What we know doesn’t feel right. Whenever he’s sorted out, it’s going to be a long road back. His games this season didn’t feel Premier League quality.

11 Noni Madueke
31+10 games, 12 goals
7/10
One quality in Noni Madueke’s game makes him incredibly crucial to the team. He loves the penalty area. He can’t wait to get in it. I swear some players in his position have never been introduced to it!! But that’s where Noni wants to parade. In many ways, he’s a one-trick pony. But what a trick! Receive the ball, and using his power, pace and skills, drive for the penalty area. Raheem Sterling built a stunningly successful career on that, and things may not have gone as well as hoped for him at Chelsea, but Manchester City still haven’t replaced him successfully. Most of what Noni does well or not so well he does in the penalty area. According to Opta he’s had more touches in it that Jackson this season. Because of his height and his power, he’s the most comfortable winger being isolated. But when he’s on the right, as he was for the last half-hour in the Uefa Conference Final, when he drives in he gives Palmer space to go wide, and Palmer’s magical assists essentially came from the right-wing. But I really liked him on the left when Maresca swapped him over, his ability to go outside full-backs constantly made the pitch bigger. Maresca’s never hidden Noni needs a lot of fine tuning, but he’s evidence that it’s not just players who can play in a variety of positions that you want, it’s specialists. He’s definitely that.

12 Filip Jørgensen
23 games, 9 clean sheets
4/10
Bought for a reported €24.5m from Villarreal last summer, data told me he’d made more saves that any other La Liga goalkeeper the previous season. But when I checked the Spanish table, I saw his club had conceded more goals than any other side apart from the relegated ones. I thought, maybe he needed to save a few more! And despite being 22 at the time, he’d never been selected for the senior Danish international squad. He’s clearly capable of making excellent saves, but throughout the season he struggled on crosses and with his handling. In style, he’s more Kepa than Sánchez. Hopefully another season of adapting will improve him, but it should probably be on loan.

13 Marcus Bettinelli
0 games
1/10
Elite clubs now have ‘training’ goalkeepers, often third choice, who never play. The problem is that the development team, the Under-21s, simply don’t provide a men’s game for such goalkeepers to keep sharp. Chelsea, extraordinarily, had two goalkeepers who never play, as Lucas Bergström ‘wasted’ a year in the same way. It doesn’t sit comfortably. Is this what they really want?

14 João Félix
9+11 games, 7 goals
5/10
It’s not Félix’s fault that big teams keep employing him and that he was bought for an outrageous amount of money when a teenager. Or that Chelsea signed him twice. And it’s the norm for huge talents in their teens to turn into ‘only’ good and not special players. The special ones are the rare ones. Félix has excellent skills, but does he have fire? Fire in his belly, fire in his soul? It’s like he wants to decorate the game rather than embrace it. In the last three years he’s lived in Madrid, London, Barcelona, London again and Milan. I hope he’s enjoying life, embracing it, rather than struggling through it. He needs to find a home.

15 Nicolas Jackson
31+4 games, 13 goals
7/10
Because the club bought no back-up centre-forward, for two years Jackson has had to play when fit. In some ways it’s served him well as he’s learned the game. When Maresca talks about his quality he always emphasises his work off the ball. I actually think Nico deserves more praise than even Enzo gives him. I really think he’s the best forward in the Premier League for closing down, for pressing opposition defenders and goalkeepers. Every game he’s like Dembélé was in the Champions League Final. And in the first half of the season he was vastly improved of first touch, both in receiving the ball and in striking it in the penalty area. He’d never have finished goals like the home one against Newcastle when he drilled in Neto’s cross after Palmer’s pass of the season. And he seemed to have matured and not picked up so many silly bookings. His scoring drought before his injury was frustrating, but the stupid sending off at Newcastle was infuriating and irresponsible, undermining his season and leaving him with average returns rather than improved ones. Now that he’s established himself, and now that he’ll have competition from Delap, this coming season needs to be his big step-up to top of the bill status. More goals, more penalty area terrorism, more stability. It’s time to join the big name centre-forwards of the century: Jimmy, Didier, Diego…

17 Carney Chukwuemeka
1+4 games
Don’t know / 10
What’s gone on with Chukwuemeka? An absolute regular growing up in England’s youth teams, purchased two years ago for £20m plus add-ons, he’s always been injured or rarely selected. So he’s been on loan to Borussia Dortmund for the second half of the season where it’s been the same story. He looks a talent. But he hasn’t become a player. Why? He needs to be somewhere where he starts games.

18 Christopher Nkunku
23+20 games, 14 goals (4 penalties)
5/10
For two seasons now, since being bought for €60m or thereabouts, Nkunku has failed to be a first choice regular. He had suffered a season of injury before arriving, got injured in pre-season and missed 36 of the 51 games that campaign and, despite missing only six of 57 this season gone, started only nine League matches. He was billed as a back-up centre-forward, but that’s not his position, then as a No 10, but rarely played there with Palmer, Fernández, Félix and Dewsbury-Hall all selected before him, and finished up mainly a wide player. The tempo of the Premier League just doesn’t seem to suit him. He’s definitely got a smell for goal because chances seem to fall his way, and some of his finishes are excellent. But he seems to ghost through games, too often on the periphery. Would a run of starts change things? But when would he get that?

19 Jadon Sancho
26+15 games, 5 goals
6/10
Already gone! Not wanted after his loan on the salary he brought down from Manchester United. I felt sorry for Jadon. He’s a winger with no pace. He’s a footballer, pass and move, link and make for the penalty area. I saw talent. But I don’t think he’s a Maresca player, again because the wingers are so isolated. At Borussia Dortmund he had another Chelsea boy at left-back, Ian Maatsen, who worked the flank with him, didn’t go joining up with the likes of Palmer and Fernández in midfield, and he was able to play that quick moving of the ball game. In support from midfield Sabitzer was always close. But left on his own at Chelsea he found it hard to beat his full-back. There were some top moments, the dummy in the build-up to Palmer’s goal at Crystal Palace, the equaliser at home to Bournemouth, and of course the goal in the Conference Final. Sadly, both parties might be better apart.

20 Cole Palmer
41+5 games, 15 goals (4 penalties)
9/10 in the first half of the season, 5/10 in the second, 8/10 at home to Liverpool, 5/10 in the first hour against Real Betis, 10/10 for 10 minutes, 8/10 for the remainder of the game
And so to the player who defined Chelsea’s season. Maresca was clear throughout that he wanted to move away from the sense, held widely, that Chelsea were a one-man team. And advisedly so. But the loss of form for both player and team seemed to intensify that sense, especially when he won the Uefa Conference Final with two assists of pure genius and was rightly given Man of the Match. To begin with, I don’t think things went as wrong after his sensational first half of the season as people made out. If Opta was more intelligent on giving assists, he’d have had one for the winner against West Ham when Wan Bissaka diverted his cross into an own goal, another for the third goal at home to Wolves when his perfect free-kick cross was headed to goal by Chalobah and helped over the line by Madueke, and a few more. But his confidence did seem to falter, his touch grew surprisingly less assured, and without injured Jackson chances to score just weren’t created or, in his case, weren’t taken. And then came the climax of the season, and against Liverpool for 90 minutes, and Real Betis for 10, he was back to his unplayable best. Football, I believe, is about specialists, not about players who can play in several positions, although a few of those is obviously critical. I worry that Cole’s genius for finding and exploiting space is squeezed thin by the overcrowding of midfield, by the narrowness of the team as the lone wide players, one each side, fail to pull the opposition out in numbers. Gridlock hasn’t helped him. He isn’t helped being surrounded by full-backs in midfield. Enzo rightly pointed out that when he played right-wing in a 4-2-3-1, he wasn’t wide because the right-back overlapped and he came infield. But when he plays No 10 in a 4-1-4-1 (and by the way, that’s more what it is, not 4-2-3-1 as the publications say), he has to go wide to find the space. Jackson, Madueke, Caicedo, Cucurella, Colwill, a lot of improving players, have lifted the pressure off him, reducing the one-man team description, but he is the maverick of all mavericks, who may become a passenger when the ball’s behind him but who works as hard as anyone (except Jackson) at closing down when it’s in front. Chelsea achieved what they achieved because he’s special, and nearly lost out because he ‘lost it’. Absolutely still top of the bill. That’s what my revelation brought me in my shower!

21 Ben Chilwell
0+1 game
Don’t know / 10
I’m not accepting all that pre-season and first half of season bullshit that there was no role for Chilwell because there wasn’t a natural position for him within the manager’s philosophy. He’s a Champions League winner, and an England international with 21 caps. Yes, he’s had a lot of injuries, yes, he’s struggled to regain his best pace, and yes, there are rumours about his lifestyle, but his performances for the club since his arrival in 2020 didn’t deserve this treatment which, it turns out, included a lot of training on his own when the message to the media was he was part of the squad. Was it more about his salary than anything else? Because of the policy it became a season without back-up or competition for Cucurella. Veiga started in that role but was never happy there, and bizarrely James, Gusto and Acheampong were all sent out there. I’ve enjoyed watching Ben and I’d never wish him this.

22 Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
18+13 games, 4 goals
6/10
It was never going to be easy for Dewsbury-Hall to win over the crowd, it felt like the teacher had brought along his pet from Leicester. And he lacked pace, power, he didn’t really seem at this level. That was underlined by the fact that he started only two League games. BUT… as the season developed, his football intelligence became clearer, his passing, his availability to receive a pass, his selection of runs off the ball. Watch the fourth goal against Real Betis again, and his running outside of Fernández in possession, signalling for Fernández to make for the penalty area, was critical in creating the opportunity. I liked his post-match interview after one Conference game when he was the first to say unabashedly it would be a failure if Chelsea didn’t win the tournament. And he was the only player to appear in every game in it. Perhaps he understands how to make Maresca’s philosophy work better than anyone. The guy’s alright!

23 Trevoh Chalobah
15+4 games
7/10
The pre-season eviction of someone who had served the club so well was the worst of business culture defeating sporting culture. It was embarrassing. And cruel! So he went on loan and, embarrassingly for the decision makers, had to be recalled in January. The whole experience must have affected him, and he didn’t always play at his best, but for the most part he was as good as anyone else in central defence and much of the time better. Maresca had said early on he wasn’t what he needed on the ball, but in fact he’s better than most. He’s proved himself in the Champions League as well, which several of the other centre-backs haven’t had the opportunity to do. I did wonder if he was left out of the last two League matches of the season because he was on 98 appearances, and maybe there was a renegotiation of contract clause on reaching 100. With his fine Uefa Conference Final performance he’s now on 99. I hope he stays, I hope he plays and I anticipate him being part of the England set-up in the World Cup.

24 Reece James
18+9 games, 2 goals
7/10
Reece James in not a bad midfielder at all, his passing range and weight of passing is outstanding, but his tempo is lacking. When fit he has proved that at right-back he has world class qualities, and his deliveries into the opposing penalty area are truly elite. So why deny him… and us… that? Enzo has said he’s not a fan of full-backs racing up and down the touchline, but by sending them into midfield he makes the game congested. The wider they play, the bigger the pitch, the more room for your better players. The manager always spoke well about him, however. If he seemed sometimes to treat him harshly, seemingly not classing him as a required regular starter, the team performances away to Newcastle and in the first-half of the Conference Final without him must have finally convinced Enzo that full fitness should make him indispensable. However, his decisions did help him give Reece more appearances. It all worked out in the end. Now, please, Enzo, next season let him return to being a specialist.

25 Moisés Caicedo
43+2 games, 2 goals
8/10
Rightly voted Player of the Season, a really fabulous campaign. In my journalistic work I saw a lot of him at Brighton, and I thought he could grow into the next N’Golo Kanté. I was thrilled when Chelsea bought him, even if the price was a bit ridiculous. He hasn’t got those burning bursts of pace that N’Golo had, but I actually think he’s a better passer of the ball. With Champions League to play this season, I truly think he’s got a chance of rising into the world elite. The advantage of his covering of so much ground is if you play four at the back, you don’t need another midfielder starting from deep. And, yes, he can fill in at right-back, but that’s a waste of him and he’s not an elite player there.

27 Malo Gusto
25+16 games
6/10
Malo plays with fantastic tempo, he’s driven, fast, committed, brave, always enthusiastic, he brings a lot to the field. What he isn’t is particularly blessed with vision, or with top passing ability, and definitely not shooting skills. He’s never scored a first class goal. So why move him into midfield where he’s not a great help to others and not giving the best of himself? When he drives up and down the flank and whips in crosses, he’s a handful. He has defensive issues to improve upon but he’s taken to the Premier League so well. He’s easy to enjoy and will surely improve.

29 Wes Fofana
14 games
6/10
The manager loves him, and who doesn’t! He’s a real Rüdiger replacement. But at Leicester, like Rüdiger at Chelsea, he needed to defend in a back three, that’s three central defenders, to excel. In a four with two full-backs (even if they’re there and not in midfield) I don’t think he’s so secure. But when he plays his personality shines brightly. The problem is, obviously, injuries. I think back to his purchase for £70m, and the ownership sent him to New York for his medical because they didn’t trust the medical he would have received in England, or at the club. Well, I don’t rate at all the medical he received in the USA. Wes walks with a limp that’s as extreme as Kurt Zouma’s post his ACL rupture. We all love him and my fingers remain crossed. In the last four seasons, for Leicester and Chelsea, including substitute appearances, he’s played in 46 matches. We all need to cross our fingers.

32 Tyrique George
10+14 games, 2 goals
6/10
Let’s not kid ourselves, without the Uefa Conference League Tyrique wouldn’t have got the opportunities he did, and definitely not the time to develop. He looked a boy in a man’s game for a lot of the season. But I’ve seen him be stand-out in the Under-21s, and this is the kind of season he needed. The development available within the club when such men’s games are available makes me hanker for the old reserves’ Combination League. Next season with the Champions League I can’t see such opportunities, but he’s ripe for a positive loan now.

34 Josh Acheampong
9+3 games
6/10
Same as Tyrique, a good development season, but as the Bournemouth game at home showed, Josh needs a season of regular first team action, and that means a loan. Enzo’s enthusiasm for him meant he played in a variety of positions, right-back, centre-back, left-back, midfield even, and I’m not convinced that was easy for him, or even beneficial for his development. He needs continuity.

38 Mark Guiu
7+7 games, 6 goals
6/10
Good data, but no starts in the League tells us of his level. All his goals were in the Uefa Conference. He plays for Spain Under-19s, and that’s still boys’ football. He’s doing okay, but he should never have been considered the first choice back-up to Jackson which is what he became in the second half of the season, especially when injured. Strong, driven, he’s got assets. Needs to go on loan.

40 Ronata Veiga
12+6 games, 2 goals
6/10
We were told on signing that Ronata was a left-back who could play centre-back or midfield. He started one League match in midfield, away to Bournemouth, and was not bad. Mostly he started at left-back in the Conference and Cup matches. He was driven, powerful, and a big character. So it was an education when Juventus took him on loan and played him centre-back in every game that he was fit in Serie A, and Portugal capped him regularly at centre-back. That’s where he came on in the Uefa Nations League Final. That’s clearly his position. He’ll be 22 next month, same age as Colwill, two years older than Aaron Anselmino and newly signed Mamadou Sarr who is 20 in August. Either there will be departures or gridlock in central defenders jostling for opportunities.

45 Romeo Lavia
12+6 games, 0 goals
6/10
Maresca has told us regularly the team is better with Lavia in it. Certainly his ability to receive the ball on the turn deep in his own half and pick a pass early is fantastic. His ability to pass through lines is superb. The two problems are, obviously, his injuries… he’s never finished a Chelsea game he’s started… and Caicedo. Of course you can play the two together, but the team is deeper when it’s happened because you’re one attacking player fewer. If you play Caicedo at right-back you’re turning an elite player into a get-by player. And you’re losing a world class player at right-back. Romeo’s loss of the ball at Newcastle so early, and the consequent conceding of the goal with right-back Caicedo failing to cover, was costly, but it had happened at home to Arsenal and also Bournemouth as well. He’s still very young, just 21. He’s still at the early learning stage. Next season Caicedo will have to play draining Champions League matches, so there’ll be more opportunity, if fit, for Romeo to play midfield without him. I look forward to that.

47 Lucas Bergström
0 games
1/10
Released now, so best wishes to him. After a loan to Brommapojkarna in Stockholm over a year ago which was cut short because he wasn’t playing, Lucas returned to Chelsea and became what seemed to be fourth choice goalkeeper, and didn’t play. Well, he did, he turned out six times for the Under-21s and on seven occasions for Finland Under-21s. Thirteen games in the season. He’ll be 23 in September. Of course h e had to move on.

Manager Enzo Maresca
Chelsea record: P57 W35 D9 L13 F120 A59
Football club structures in the Premier League are mostly negative now. The head coach takes the blame for everything, failed purchases, unbalanced squads, injuries, much that is out of his responsibility, and so has no interest in building anything long-term, he just needs results. The sporting directors, the fitness and medical staff, the sports scientists, they all stay away from the spotlight, yet shape the way the coach has to work. Maresca got the results in the end, and so thoroughly deserves to keep going. Next season will be hard. Newcastle and Aston Villa have failed to re-qualify for the Champions League while in it. There’ll be far more demanding games for the elite players to deliver in. The direction is clear. The sporting directors want a manager with a philosophy. It didn’t work out with Graham Potter, and when all Mauricio Pochettino did was take a broken club, mend it, and deliver four months of incredibly improved football, he was thrown away. Maresca inherited that and brought the kind of philosophy that Potter was hired for, and rode the improved wave until the new year when it broke. But he manoeuvred the rough waters and targets were achieved. Now he has to build again. There are challenges. The football in the last third of the season was, for the most part, horribly dull. The philosophy is not sufficiently getting the best out of the best players. But at least he’ll have more than one striker to work with, albeit two who’ll be learning on the job. Nothing matters except getting the best out of Palmer, Caicedo, the strikers and all the other best players. That’s all Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona did. That’s all the philosophy they needed. Can he get the best out of James and Cucurella? I’ll definitely need more entertainment than I saw in the last five months, but if the last half-hour against Real Betis is anything to go by that’s a good start.

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