Janssen makes a painful observation about Ziyech’s status at Chelsea


Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 11:56 PM• Rian Rosendaal

After the Champions League match between Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea (1-0), Theo Janssen is critical of Enzo Fernández. The analyst believes that the acquisition of the Blues has footballing qualities, but also calls him ‘overrated’. Janssen saw Fernández misjudge Karim Adeyemi’s goal, who beat the Argentinian at speed during his solo and then scored.

“If you are not fast as a midfielder, you have to rely on your insight. Then you deliberately step back a bit to be able to better scan the environment,” says Janssen. RTL7 from experience. “As a midfielder it is very important that you choose your moments. And this boy is ball-oriented. Wherever the ball is, he is. And then you take a lot of balls.” Janssen sees even more weaknesses in Fernández’s game, who was on the line against Dortmund for ninety minutes.

“He’s not very fast either, he’s slow,” Janssen continues his critical analysis of Fernández, who was recruited this winter. “Look, if you are so oriented towards the ball, you will take away a lot of balls and people will say that. But he also goes wrong very often, and he gives away spaces that he should actually cover. So if you play with plays two controlling midfielders, the idea is that one takes the left zone and the other (Ruben Loftus-Cheek, ed.) the right zone. And if one swerves to the side, the other has to go to the axis. But this one boy just walks along.”

Ziyech
“He’s a bit overrated, that’s the story. He’s a great player, but never worth 121 million,” Janssen refers to the exorbitant amount that Chelsea paid in January for the controlling midfielder. “If they had paid thirty million for him, you would also have said: ‘Yes, fine amount’.” The former player is much more positive about Hakim Ziyech. “I am a fan of him. When I see him play today, he was very threatening. Unlucky in the final phase, you know. But he is busy all the time. I thought he did well, but it goes with an attacker to give assists and to score goals. According to the statistics, he has an assist (in the Premier League, ed.).”

Fernández was beaten at speed by Adeyemi at Dortmund’s goal.

Fellow analyst Ron Vlaar saw Ziyech become very little involved in Chelsea’s game. “A bit more in the second half,” Janssen adds. Presenter Simon Zijlemans noted, just like Vlaar, that the international of Morocco was often skipped, especially in the first half hour. “That also says something. If you are reliable, you get balls. If you do the right things, you get balls. If you lose a lot of balls, they pass you over”, Janssen concludes his story about Ziyech’s status within the Chelsea selection.