Chelsea had a horrible start to their Champions League campaign against Croatian outfit Dinamo Zagreb as they lost 1-0 in their away trip. While the fans and a few experts were furious over the loss in their Champions League opener, former West Ham and Chelsea winger Joe Cole shared a verdict about two Chelsea players who had a horrible night in Zagreb.
The Blues lost the match 1-0 courtesy of a goal from the highly rated Mislav Orsic who finished from a counter attack in the 13th minute putting the visitors under pressure. But despite getting so much time, Thomas Tuchel’s men failed to find the net even once as they started their Champions League campaign on the wrong note.
Joel Cole criticized Kalidou Koulibaly and Hakim Ziyech for poor performances on the night. Koulibaly left a lot to be desired from the counter attack that Orsic scored the goal. The Snegalese was out of position in that instance and hence Cole was totally adamant at the Chelsea defender. He also criticized Hakim Ziyech for contributing very little after coming on as a substitute.
Speaking about the match, Joe Cole pointed out a few instances and criticized the players for not being good enough against Dinamo Zagreb. He told BT Sport, ”Where do you start? The guys at the back have got to pull it together as soon as possible. People will look at the goal but we could have pulled out countless examples where Koulibaly was the wrong side of his man. For a 31-year-old defender, he needs to get up to speed quickly.”
He then spoke about Ziyech and asked all the right questions as the former Ajax winger has not made a major difference in the game by coming on as a substitute. Hence he said, “He wasn’t at his best and he hasn’t been at his best. He’s trying hard and trying to make things happen but it’s not happening for him. It’s a bad night for the club. It’s a massive shock.”
This was the third away defeat for the Blues in what has been a very difficult start of the season for Tuchel’s men. They are sixth in the Premier League standings with only three wins from six games accumulating only 10 points till now.
The Blues will take an away trip to Fulham at the Craven Cottage before hosting Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig in the Champions League. So they will have to be at the top of their game for these matches to steer their campaign back on track.
