Ask Chelsea fans which player was most responsible for the draw against West Ham and you’ll get a variety of answers – Eden Hazard, Olivier Giroud and Willian will all feel they could have contributed more, and even in his short period on the pitch Alvaro Morata will feel that he could have done better.
But Maurizio Sarri’s quotes in The Metro show that he had someone else in mind entirely, someone who wasn’t on the pitch at all.
“Pedro for us is very important, because he is the best player we have with movement without the ball,” the Italian coach mused.
Sarri said that his team were missing Pedro, and it’s hard to disagree. The Spaniard wasn’t in the squad after picking up a shoulder injury in the win over PAOK in Greece in the week, and the team definitely missed his energy and pressing up front.
More than that, in a game where the Blues just needed one goal, his finishing would have been a huge help. He’s already picked up a few goals this season, and he might have had that cutting edge in the box that our forwards simply lacked yesterday.
