Summary Chelsea attacker Mykhailo Mudryk has had a slow start to the Premier League season, with two unimpressive performances. Mudryk missed crucial chances in both games against Liverpool and West Ham, leading to criticism from fans and journalists. In response to his critics, Mudryk posted a defiant message on Instagram, expressing appreciation for support and emphasizing the team's unity and shared success.
Chelsea attacker Mykhailo Mudryk has sent a defiant message to his supporters on social media amid his slow start to the 2023/23 Premier League season.
Has Mykhailo Mudryk been playing badly for Chelsea?
Over the weekend, the Blues slumped to a disappointing away defeat against West Ham United at the London Stadium, losing 3-1 despite being up against ten men for the final 23 minutes of the 90.
For all the positivity that seems to have been around the arrival of new head coach Mauricio Pochettino, this hasn't quite resulted in performances on the pitch with Chelsea yet to win either of their first two games, following a 1-1 draw against Liverpool on the opening weekend.
In both matches, Mudryk has had the opportunity to make himself a hero but fluffed his lines. Indeed, against the Reds, he was put through on goal late on but took a heavy touch past goalkeeper Alisson Becker and the chance ultimately came to nothing.
You can see the moment via Reddit below.
While against the Hammers, the £88.5m player also failed to deliver a telling moment of quality when the opportunity presented itself, as he skewed a volley so poorly that it didn't even end up as a shot on goal.
Unsurprisingly, the 22-year-old has come under criticism for his displays. For instance, he was handed a 3/10 player rating by journalist Nizaar Kinsella of the Evening Standard, while Jude Summerfield of 90min described one moment involving the player as "comical."
In response to his critics, Mudryk appears to have sent out a defiant message on his Instagram story, saying: "Guys, I just wanna say that I appreciate all your support. We going with y'all in one boat, lose together and we win together, and my success will be yours as well."
What position is Mudryk?
Unfortunately, his lack of composure in these last two outings means that Mudryk is still yet to score a competitive goal for the Blues, having now featured in 19 matches across all competitions for the club.
He hasn't started either game so far, though, coming off the bench both times – playing on the right wing against Liverpool, and replacing Carney Chukwuemeka in a more central role vs West Ham.
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Perhaps Pochettino will be able to get more out of the Ukraine international if he was to play Mudryk on the left wing. After all, this is probably his best position, having played there 77 times in his career – only operating on the other flank 10 times, and even playing as a centre forward and an attacking midfielder once each (via Transfermarkt).
TV pundit and former player Ashley Cole certainly seemed to think the winger shouldn't have directly replaced Chukwuemeka against the Hammers. He told Sky Sports (via Metro): "Maybe the substitution [Chukwuemeka off, Mudryk on] caused an issue.
"They lost a bit of impetus in the game. They weren’t getting the runs in behind between right-back and centre-back. It was all then too easy for West Ham.
"Pochettino will have understood the context behind the change but I felt they lost a bit of ability to drive beyond and cause West Ham a problem. They lost a little bit of power and impetus to sustain attacks."
