Whilst it is evident that Ben Chilwell has not been performing as well as he did at the start of this season within recent matches, I do believe that he could actually be well suited to left wing-back in Thomas Tuchel’s new system.
Marcos Alonso started there and scored at the weekend against Burnley, and we know that is his strongest position, but as a left back not so much. With Chilwell though I think he could be good at both.
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In an attacking sense we have seen it so often in his career, he has the pace to get to the by-line, he can cross, and he also has a good eye for goal and an assist.
There is absolutely no reason why he cannot thrive as a left wing-back in this system under Tuchel, he just needs to rediscover his form.
The stats back up this claim…
For a starters, in just 17 appearances for Chelsea in the Premier League this season he has 6 goal involvements – 4 assists and 2 goals.
He is making 1.1 crosses per game.
2.5 long balls per game.
He’s making 59.9 passes per game with an 82.7% success rate.
He makes 1 key pass per game and 0.8 shots on goal per game.
These are all impressive stats for a potential left wing back, but he has that added bonus of being good defensively as well and having the pace to get up and down the flank quicker than many.
Chilwell is known as a left back rather than anything else, but he could genuinely perform well as a left wing-back, I just think his bad form has been unfortunate timing.
I’d like to see him have more chances to play there, which we will of course.
