Loftus-cheek revels in change of role to Chelsea’s new midfield enforcer
Ruben Loftus-cheek is 6ft 3in and has a frame packed with muscle. He has impeccable control in tight areas and can shift through the gears when the space opens up. He can beat you in a fight and a race, and can dribble past you if he wants.
How, then, do you go about stop- ping him when he is in full flow?
It is a question that would have featured high in the minds of the Brentford midfielders on Saturday, when Loftus-cheek produced another performance that showed he could yet have a bright future at Chelsea. Physically dominant and technically sharp, Loftus-cheek controlled the midfield and absorbed the Brentford pressure until the 70th minute, when the home side wisely decided the time had come to bypass him and play long balls instead.
It has not always been this way for Loftus-cheek, now 25, but a change of role under Thomas Tuchel appears to have given a new lease of life to the player once regarded as the standout graduate of the Chelsea academy. He has spent his adult career in a variety of positions, from central midfielder to attacking midfielder to winger and even occasionally to striker. Injuries have not helped, but he has never been able to make one of those roles his own,
In control: Ruben Loftus-cheek absorbed the Brentford pressure and was generally disappointing on loan at Fulham last season. Could it be that this new role, sitting in front of the defence, is the one to which he is best suited? He certainly has the attributes to play there. Time and again, Loftus-cheek received the ball under pressure against Brentford and spun clear, using that rare combination of size and balance to cruise past his opponents. When Brentford’s players did get close enough to make a
challenge, Loftus-cheek simply shoved them aside. An awkward moment for Christian Norgaard came when he attempted to slow one of Loftus-cheek’s off-the-ball runs. Next thing he knew, he had been thrown to the turf with disdain. Loftus-cheek even cast him a scolding look as he lay sprawled on the grass, as if to warn Norgaard not to try such a thing again.
“It is not somewhere I have played a lot in my career,” Loftuscheek said of his new position. “But it is where I played in my younger days, so it is not too foreign to me. When they pressed I had to use my body and I am quite good at that. Sometimes I can beat the press, and it is a big advantage for the team. It is a position where you have to be safe and dictate the play. It is hard sometimes as I wanted to run with it a lot more, but I needed to be disciplined in this role and pick my three or four times to run forward.”
No player regained possession more times than Loftus-cheek, who won the ball back on 13 occasions. He also had the most touches of any player on the pitch, and won the most fouls. His physical power makes Loftus-cheek a different option in that midfield position to Jorginho. The Englishman has started the past two league games ahead of Jorginho, and surely deserves to do so again in the matches against Malmo and Norwich City. The key will be consistency. Loftus-cheek has shown these glimpses before in a Chelsea shirt but then faded, often through injury rather than his own performances.
Loftus-cheek’s performance and Ben Chilwell’s superb winner were the two highlights of a difficult night for Chelsea, who were forced to defend with desperation against Brentford’s late onslaught. Only the brilliance of their goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy, denied the home side what would have been a deserved point, if not all three.
Loftus-cheek’s height and physical presence were useful in those moments, but it was his showing in the opening hour which was most encouraging. Perhaps, at long last, it is the start of something special.