This Chelsea starter needs “a little bit of coaching” to become a good player claims legendary striker

Liam Delap started again for Chelsea on Saturday, and after the game there was some criticism of his performance from fans.

Michael Owen was on the Premier League’s own analysis show and gave his thoughts as a former striker:

“A mixed bag performance, I feel. I quite like this lad, I do feel he’s got quite a lot to offer, I do think he is quite raw and he can get better.

First up was a first half moment where Delap shot from an angle rather than passing. It was immensely frustrating in the moment, and even the legendary poacher Owen said it wasn’t the right call:

“I do think in this situation he needs to be a little bit more unselfish. He probably could have passed it a couple of times.

“If he plays this ball in [to Pedro Neto, on his right] and makes a run to take the defender away, he will leave Neto with a one-on-one in this area. I think he’s got to do that instead of being a bit selfish and thinking he’s going to score a goal on his own.”

The criticism continued with some other poor decisions:

“He needs to be aware all of this space [in Chelsea’s half] is his. He needs to be there before the defender. He can’t wait, he can’t be on the back foot.”

Delap’s still has plenty of potential to be “good player”

Liam Delap in a physical battle. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Image)

The good stuff came when Delap was able to roll a defender and play in Neto down the right:

“Now this is what he loves, this is what I see he’s great at. All this space in behind, he loves to make a run in behind. He’s in there if there was somebody on the ball who is a little bit more aware of his runs. I do like that from him, he’s very good at that.

“I think with a little bit of coaching, this fella could be a very good player.”

In other news…

Andrey Santos had a great game on Saturday and was named man of the match by most outlets. He spoke to the Chelsea TV cameras after the game.

Enzo Maresca joked that he might drop Estevao Willian after Saturday’s win, but only if the winger did this one thing he didn’t like.