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Mykhaylo Mudryk’s terrible start to life in London reached a new low when he underperformed for Ukraine against the Three Lions at Wembley Stadium.
Gareth Southgate’s squad strolled to a 2-0 victory with to goals from Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka, with Ukraine struggling to make much of an impact.
Although the first goal was a bit fortuitous in terms of how the ball entered the back of the net, there was little that could have been done to stop Saka’s outside-the-box curler.
Gerrard’s Criticism of Mudryk Performance
In the buildup to Kane’s first goal, Saka pushed aside Chelsea star Mudryk, who failed to adequately block the Arsenal player’s cross.
This stretch of play prompted criticism from Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, who was covering the game for Channel 4 as a pundit.
“From a Ukraine point of view, it’s fantastic play from England as they open the pitch up, but you would be really disappointed if you’re the coach with Mudryk,” the ex-England midfielder explained to the punditry team.
“With all due respect he is still learning the game but you know that you need to keep Saka on his right foot, you can’t allow him to come in on that left foot because it’s a wand and he gets it right on the money,” Gerrard added.
Arsenal fans may have taken particular joy in the fact that Saka got the better of Mudryk given how close the Gunners came to signing the player before losing out to their London rivals Chelsea in the January transfer window.
Pearce Critical of Ukraine Management of Mudryk
Stuart Peace, a former England international, criticized Mudryk’s performance in the first half, claiming that the £88 million player was being played out of position.
“If I was Ukraine, I would get Mudryk on the opposite side of the pitch,” he told talkSPORT during the half-way point of the game, “Because at the moment, he’s up against somebody that has got his number.”
“Walker has certainly got his number,” the pundit added, “He’s done nothing in the game, Mudryk, and he’s arguably one of their better players.”
At club level, Mudryk’s start at Stamford Bridge has not been ideal since transferring from Shakhtar Donetsk in January.
He presently has one assist in seven total appearances across all competitions, which is a poorer output than Chelsea would have expected when they signed the star for over £60 million in the winter window.
In recent weeks, Blues manager Graham Potter has used the 22-year-old rarely as his side have finally began to gather momentum in England and in Europe after a tough start to this season.
Next up, Chelsea face Aston Villa on April 1st at Stamford Bridge. A win or a draw against the side would mean that the Blues will go five runs unbeaten but Potter’s side will be expected to win at home.
Given Chelsea’s poor form this season, they are actually equal with Villa on 38 points and ahead of them only on goal difference.
A defeat would be disastrous for the side as they could fall out of the top ten places while a win would get Unai Emery’s Villa off their backs for the meantime.
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