If he did not know already, then Mauricio Pochettino would have found out first hand just how much work he has to do as Chelsea head coach on Sunday afternoon.
The Blues came into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw with Liverpool where there were many positives to take for Pochettino. Apart from the opening stages of the first-half, Chelsea more or less dominated the Reds at Stamford Bridge and were unfortunate not to walk away with all three points on the opening weekend of the season.
So with a week to prepare his new squad for the trip to the London Stadium to face West Ham United, Pochettino was feeling pretty positive about his start to life at the club. That would have only been added to by the double arrival of Moises Caicedo for £115million and then the £58m signing of Romeo Lavia a few days later.
Both midfielders were registered in time to make their debuts for the Blues on Sunday afternoon in East London. However, it was only Caicedo who made the squad.
The Ecuador international, though, was deemed not quite ready to start the match. It wasn’t until the hour-mark until Pochettino turned to his record signing. It was eight minutes after Michail Antonio had restored the Hammers’ lead in front of a buzzing London Stadium.
Caicedo came on and slotted into the No.6 role, with Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher playing as the No.8s either side of him essentially. His first touch as a Chelsea player was a slide tackle, but an unsuccessful one where, despite making contact with the ball, he was unable to win back possession. That kind of set up what turned out to be a massively eventful and disappointing debut for Caicedo.
Playing at the base of a midfield three, the 21-year-old managed to pick up the ball on numerous occasions and look to the likes of Enzo and Gallagher to drive forward. Caicedo, though, wasn’t able to give Chelsea what they needed on the day – and that was to be expected.
He wasn’t signed as the player Chelsea turn to when they need a goal. Caicedo, instead, was brought into add some much-needed legs and defensive stability into a Chelsea midfield that lacks just that.
In stoppage time, with Chelsea desperate to find an equaliser, Caicedo brought down Emerson Palmieri inside the box and the referee John Brooks did not hesitate and pointed to the spot. Lucas Paqueta put the game beyond any doubt and ended Chelsea’s hopes of getting anything from West Ham.
Caicedo didn’t have too much of a pre-season with Brighton before he moved to Chelsea. The Ecuadorian arrived in the United States slightly later than his former teammates and even when he did get there, he was not used as much as others under Roberto De Zerbi for whatever reason.
“We took the decision that he would play with him in the last 30 minutes because he is ready to play 30 minutes but maybe he wasn’t ready to play from the beginning,” Pochettino told reporters about Caicedo after the game. “He did well, some very positive things. Okay, in the last minute we concede a goal but we cannot saying nothing wrong.”
It may take Caicedo a bit of time to get to his best at Chelsea unfortunately. He will now have a full week of training before the Blues face Luton Town on Friday night, so he theoretically should be in much better shape by that point.
Meanwhile, one man who is now very doubtful to be playing against Luton is Carney Chukwuemeka. The 19-year-old midfielder fired an equaliser for Chelsea in the first half – in what was the teenager’s first goal since signing for the club for around £20m last summer from Aston Villa.
Chukwuemeka was looking threatening for the Blues, in what was a bit of a hybrid role where he would occupy spaces on the left-hand side and in the centre as well. His goal showed tremendous footwork and a superb strike of the ball to beat Alphonse Areola.
There was heartbreak for Chukwuemeka, however, later on in the first-half. After a collision, the England Under-20 international was left holding his knee. He was down on the floor for a few minutes before being assisted off the pitch by a couple of physics.
