Marc Cururella won the official Man of the Match award last night in our 1-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League, and I’m not here to take anything or that away from him.
Some of the tackles he made were absolutely superb. He was making very good runs inside and outside, and he was a real problem for Benfica. He was his usual tenacious self all game. But I did see him give away some silly passes and get beaten a couple of times. Even still, that’s just me being picky. He was good, he had a good game, I’m not taking that away from him.
But for me, there was a player who was slightly better and deserved the MOTM just a tiny bit more, Pedro Neto.
Joe Cole agrees with me, so I’ll let him take it from here…
“Neto has been brilliant, he’s the unsung hero of this Chelsea team, the fans will tell you that,” he told TNT Sports.
“He delivers and is always positive. He’s been Chelsea’s best player tonight. He’s a bright spark very consistent.
“He’s fast becoming a fans’ favourites at Stamford Bridge. He was Chelsea’s best player tonight by a mile.”
Chelsea’s best player ‘by a mile’ you see.
I think Neto is a fantastic asset to have in our side. He’s more of an old fashioned winger where he is prepared to do the dirty work and work hard defensively as well. And I think that’s why Jose Mourinho loves him so much. He has the attacking threat as well of course and can score a world class goal as we have seen. I don’t agree that he’s the best winger in the world, not at all, but he is superb and I was very pleased when we signed him.