Shades of Hazard as magic Mudryk dazzles on debut
CESAR Azpilicueta raised his eyes and moved his feet to escape as quickly as the man about whom he was taking questions. Mykhailo Mudryk and his twinkle toes had, thankfully, provided a talking point from a clash between Liverpool and Chelsea that bore little resemblance to any of the past titanic battles these sides have contested — a day where confidence was notably absent.
Belief, however, is not something that Mudryk lacks. As soon as he was introduced at Anfield, the new £88million signing was feinting and shimmying in an attempt to wreak havoc, twisting and dancing to evade tackles. It was possible, in this cameo, to see shades of Eden Hazard.
When asked if he could see similarities between the old and the new, Azpilicueta — this bridge between Stamford Bridge eras — gave a telling smile and refused to put any undue pressure on a 22-year- old who had only been training with the squad for a couple of days.
Comparisons might have been off the agenda but one thing Azpilicueta was not afraid to do was champion the talents of the flaxen- haired Ukrainian, the enthusiasm for what he had seen at Cobham and, fleetingly, on Merseyside immediately apparent.
‘ He’s very confident,’ said Azpilicueta. ‘The price tag, I know from the outside it’s there. But players don’t make the prices. It’s a market and when you are in the market you have competition to get players so I don’t think it has to lie on his shoulders.
‘He just has to express himself the way he has been doing. It’s great to see his energy and he will be a very important player. I’ve seen a very focused lad with great determination, great ambition. It was his first game since November so, for him, it was like pre-season.
‘He played 35 minutes at Anfield, so it’s not the easiest debut but he did brilliantly. A great connection with the fans as well. He’s a player who has that mix between playing good football with his feet and also running into the space. You could see his speed.’
Absolutely you could see his speed. One change of gear left James Milner with no option but to give him a ‘ welcome to the Premier League’ tackle, with a lunge that crudely halted his momentum. A yellow card was administered, Milner’s substitution inevitably followed.
But to hear Azpilicueta speak with such enthusiasm and see Mudryk, who was pilfered from under Arsenal’s noses, play with such freedom made you wonder why Graham Potter had not necessarily embraced his addition to the squad.
Potter had spoken about ‘no guarantees’ of Mudryk flourishing and the signing being ‘the direction the club wants to go down’. With the greatest respect, it is not the tone a Chelsea manager should strike, certainly not when a transfer has been made at such enormous cost.
It is going to take time for Mudryk to adjust and there will, inevitably, be moments when it doesn’t go to plan. But, with the right kind of nurturing, the potential to go far is there — you knew that as soon as he sent Joe Gomez and Milner this way and that with almost his first touch.
A new era is taking shape at Stamford Bridge, one in which it is almost impossible to keep up with the number of signings they are making, but you can see Mudryk — who quickly endeared himself to an away end in which club legend John Terry sat — becoming a poster boy for them.
‘He is dangerous in one-v-ones, he gets supporters off their seats and knows where the goal is,’ said Potter, who was without doubt relieved that a draw lowered the heat on his position a fraction. ‘Our job is to help him settle in.’
But it isn’t the only job: the other part is to turn a rough diamond into a sparkling gem. LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 7; Milner 6 (Alexander-Arnold 72min, 6), Konate 7, Gomez 7, Robertson 7; Keita 5.5 (Nunez 63, 7), Bajcetic 7.5 (Fabinho 82), Thiago 6.5; Salah 6, Gakpo 6 (Henderson 82), Elliott 7 (Jones 82). Booked: Milner, Jones, Bajcetic. Manager: Jurgen Klopp 6.
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Arrizabalaga 7; Chalobah 7 (Azpilicueta 81), SILVA 8.5, Badiashile 7, Cucurella 6; Jorginho 6, Hall 6 (Mudryk 55, 7); Ziyech 7, Gallagher 6, Mount 6 (Chukwuemeka 81); Havertz 6 (Aubameyang 82). Booked: Chalobah. Manager: Graham Potter 6.
Referee: Michael Oliver 7.
Attendance: Not provided.