The ‘new’ Kovacic

The more competition, the more difficult it is to stand out. However, in the case of Mateo Kovacic, the more and better the footballers with whom Chelsea have reinforced their midfield, the more and better the performance offered by the former Real Madrid player has been. Despite playing at a high level during his last two seasons for the Whites, Kovacic was one of the discards of Zinedine Zidane at the end of the 2017/2018 season and ended up being transferred to the Blues for € 45M. Now immersed in his fourth season as a Chelsea player, the Croatian international has become one of the most complete midfielders on the scene today. This is demonstrated by both his statistics and his game.

Against Norwich City, the last league match played by the Londoners to date, Chelsea beat the Canaries 7-0 with two assists from Mate Kovacic. In this way, there are already 5 goals that the Croatian has accumulated in just 9 Premier League games. A fact that may be even more remarkable at the end of this season, and is that this is the the first time that the Chelsea midfielder exceeded 4 assists in the same season since he ended 2011/2022 at Dinamo Zagreb, his second as a professional footballer, with 7. With Inter Milan in 2013/2014 it was the last time he reached 4 assists in official matches.

While it is true that many associate the high participation of Mateo Kovacic as a starter due to the physical problems that N’Golo Kanté is dragging at this start of the campaign, the truth is that the Croatian has been important with Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard and, now, Thomas Tuchel. The Chelsea midfield is formed, this season, by Mason Mount, Jorginho, the aforementioned French international, Kai Havertz, Saúl Ñíguez and Hakim Ziyech, as well as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley who a priori started as discards, but Kovacic He has played practically everything with the Blues. Of the 14 games he has played to date (including the final of the European Super Cup), the 27-year-old midfielder has started 13 games..

Beyond being one goal and two assists away in 2021/2022 from equaling all the goals and passes he achieved in his first three seasons at Chelsea (2 and 7 respectively), the role that Mateo Kovacic has acquired in the Thomas Tuchel’s team is due to what he can contribute (and does) to Londoners in each game, in terms of qualities and conditions. To his verticality, dribbling ability and brilliant handling, the Croatian has added this course a commendable increase in defensive effort. As reported from England, Kovacic is averaging more innings and interceptions per game (nearly 5 every 90 minutes) than ever before at Chelsea.

Although the formed Kanté and Jorginho have been the favorite couple of the German coach since his arrival, how well the Croatian is taking advantage of his opportunities at this start of the season has led Mateo Kovacic to become the midfielder with whom Jorginho has played the most games. since signing for Chelsea. While Italian and Croatian have met on the pitch 111 times, Jorginho and Kanté accumulate 101. In addition, after César Azpilicueta (128), Jorginho is already the second footballer with the most matches Kovacic has played in his entire career.. A good job in the core of Blues that will make Thomas Tuchel doubt in the face of the conformation of the eleven when he has all his men available.