West Ham vs Chelsea: London Derby provides Sancho the perfect foundation to flourish
Another busy summer of transfer activity at Chelsea concluded on deadline day with the signing of Jadon Sancho on loan from Manchester United.
The winger wasted little time in making an impact at his new club, coming off the bench to set up Christopher Nkunku’s winner against Bournemouth. He is now in line to make his first Chelsea start against West Ham United in the early kick-off on Saturday.
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Such is the competition for places at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea attackers need to deliver the goods when they are given an opportunity to do so. That is particularly true for left-sided forwards, which is the role Sancho filled after entering the fray at the start of the second half last time out.
If the England international gets the nod in that position this weekend, he will be the fourth different starter on the left in Chelsea’s five Premier League games. Neither Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk nor Pedro Neto did enough to make the role their own, thereby giving Sancho a chance to stake his own claim.
There was plenty to like in his cameo against Bournemouth. Sancho’s first significant action was to play in Marc Cucurella, who ought to have shot rather than attempting to square the ball to a team-mate. There were a few more neat link-ups between that duo down the left that will have pleased Enzo Maresca.
A direct dribble soon after set up a chance for Nicolas Jackson, before Sancho laid on Nkunku’s decisive strike in the 86th minute. The 24-year-old looked sharp throughout. He was not shy in taking on Bournemouth right-back Adam Smith and, whether by passing or dribbling, he always looked to move the ball forward.
"I have the feeling that Jadon is a guy that needs to feel love," Maresca said after the match.
"This is what I thought when I spoke with him before he joined us. Also he has the desire to show the player he is.
"But for me, he has to just enjoy football. It’s the reason why they play, they’re happy and they want to enjoy football. Then, because they’re good, they’re going to do good things."
Many others have formed the same impression of Sancho. The player himself must take some responsibility for his failure to make the grade at Manchester United, but he is hardly the first player to have regressed at Old Trafford in recent years. Sancho gave a reminder of what he can do on loan at Borussia Dortmund last season and he is now focused on cracking the Premier League with Chelsea.
It will be interesting to see how he fares on the left, if that is indeed where Maresca uses him going forward. Despite being right-footed, Sancho did his best work at Dortmund on the right flank. When he played on the left for United, he often seemed reluctant to run at the opposition full-back, instead opting to make a simple pass infield. Pleasingly for Chelsea, that was not the case against Bournemouth.
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Sancho should not expect to be given much more time to catch the eye than Nkunku, Mudryk and Neto were. If he starts against West Ham but is quiet, Maresca will have plenty of alternatives on the bench. But as far as debuts go, Sancho’s was impressive. Chelsea fans will hope it is the start of something special.
