Jason Cundy isn’t convinced by Mykhailo Mudryk in the No 10 position despite the fact he played there in Chelsea’s FA Cup win this week.
Mykhailo Mudryk, 23, was recalled to the Chelsea starting XI and helped them beat rivals Leeds United 3-2 at Stamford Bridge.
The Ukraine international most commonly plays on the left wing with his pace and trickery. However, he lined up in a central No 10 position versus Leeds just behind striker Nicolas Jackson.
Mudryk scored his fifth goal of the season with a lovely first-time finish after a pullback from Raheem Sterling into the centre of the box.
Jason Cundy admitted during Chelsea’s victory over Leeds that Mudryrk’s new position didn’t convince him.
When discussing Mudryk playing in the No 10 position, Cundy said via Chelsea’s 5th Stand App (8:22pm, 28 February): “I’m still not convinced. I would put him out wide right and put Noni Madueke in there.
“As a 10, I feel your biggest part of your role is in their half. Final third is key, but you need to be able to support. He looks like the games passed him by a little.
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“… There is a lot of brain space in there for Mudryk, there’s a lot going on in that 10 role to understand where to go and receive the ball. There’s been moments when he’s been good I won’t deny that, but there’s been moments when he let’s us down.”
Mykhailo Mudryk position
In our view, Mudryk can be a real threat from a central position. We’d be open to seeing more of him as the No 10.
From what we saw against Leeds, Mudryk looked more involved from the middle during the first-half than when he was moved out into his usual wide area.
While on co-commentary on ITV 4 last night, Lee Dixon said that he did prefer to see Mudryk as the No 10 versus Leeds.
It’ll be interesting to see whether this Mudryk experiment stretches into the next few weeks.
