[ad_1]
Many have been clamoring for Hakim Ziyech to start his first official match with Chelsea, and were probably disappointed to learn that the “Wizard of AMS” was once again alone on the bench when the starting lineups for our first match were announced from the group stage of the Champions League against Sevilla yesterday.
But it turns out there is a good reason for that, as revealed by Ziyech himself in his post-match interview with beIN Sports. He’s still not quite fit after several months off the pitch thanks to the coronavirus (which canceled the Eredivisie season in March) and then his own knee injury (in Chelsea’s only preseason friendly, in August) .
“I still have a way to go [to reach full fitness]. Obviously, I didn’t play for a long time, due to the virus and [then] It was a bit unfortunate that the injury came. So I try to stay calm and everything will be fine soon. “
Ziyech, like everyone else, also reflected on the tough challenge posed by the visitors last night, and especially the difficulties of finding space in the face of such an organized, well-drilled, and quality (albeit a bit underrated) crew.
“We knew before the game that Sevilla is a very good team, with quality on the ball [but] was [also] really hard to find spaces. But at the end of the day, it’s a draw, it’s a point. We can’t be happy about that, but it’s a point. “
-Hakim Ziyech; source: beIN Sports
With Pulisic freshly recovered and Ziyech still picking up speed, Chelsea remains a work in progress on the field, at all levels, from macro to micro, and in every phase, from attack to defense.
Ziyech, who is by far the oldest and most experienced attacking player not named Olivier Giroud, recently wisely observed that we need time, but we don’t have time either. A draw like yesterday’s gives us a little more time. Hopefully, Ziyech himself will also be fully fit soon.
