MY ACCOUNT
Chelsea are on the hunt for silverware — and Mateo Kovacic can help the Blues add to their trophy haul.
The all-action Croat looks set to start today’s Club World Cup final against Palmeiras as the West London side aim to win the competition for the first time.
Ahead of this afternoon’s clash in Abu Dhabi, we delve into what makes the midfielder so crucial to Thomas Tuchel’s team.
The story so far
Having initially signed from Real Madrid on a season-long loan in August 2018, Kovacic’s Stamford Bridge stay might have been a short one. Evidently, it has not been.
The 75-cap international has gone on to make 166 appearances for the Blues in all competitions and featured heavily in their 2018-19 Europa League-winning campaign.
His performances that season earned him a permanent deal and he has remained a regular ever since, helping Chelsea to their second (and his fourth) Champions League triumph last term.
A new role
In Tuchel’s 3-4-3 formation, Kovacic has typically lined up as one of two midfielders in front of the back three, operating in a box-to-box role of sorts but that has changed in recent weeks.
With Tuchel abandoning three at the back in favour of a four-man defence, Kovacic found himself deployed as a holding midfielder in Chelsea’s last Premier League game — a 2-0 home win over Tottenham.
But one thing has not changed is the importance of the Kovacic-Jorginho axis, which arguably looked stronger than ever against Spurs.
Getting stuck in
Of midfielders to play 900 or more Premier League minutes this season, only four have attempted a greater number of tackles per 90 than Kovacic (3.19).
He has won 62.5% of those duels, the highest success rate of any Chelsea midfielder to attempt five or more in the league this season — and the fifth-best among all Premier League midfielders to attempt the same number as him (40) or more.
Has supreme enforcer N’Golo Kante’s influence worn off on Kovacic? Perhaps, but he is a player who seems to naturally embrace the grittier side of the game.
On the attack
While he might be described as an industrious player, Kovacic does make his fair share of offensive contributions.
He has created six big chances in the Premier League this campaign, at a rate of 0.48 per 90 — putting him on a par with Manchester United maestro Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes, Manchester City duo Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, and West Ham’s Pablo Fornals are the only midfielders in the division to have fashioned more big chances than Kovacic’s six overall.
The 27-year-old has moments of pure magic in his locker, too. That much was clear from his spectacular volley in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool — a strike which earned him the Premier League Goal of the Month award for January.
A key man
Speaking last month, Tuchel noted what a big loss Kovacic had been while sidelined by injury and coronavirus at the back end of 2021 — pointing to the positive impact his attitude has on those around him.
He said: “If you have players out like Mateo [Kovacic] and N’Golo [Kante], and they share their work with Jorginho on the very highest level in the middle of the pitch, then you miss the core of your team.
“The key players, the top, top players, behave the same way every day. No matter if they have to rest one game, or if they have personal differences, or if they have to fight, their experience and attitude is right. They know what it takes to over-perform consistently.
“They push everybody to the limit because they push themselves all the time to the limit. [Kovacic] is doing it with words and attitude and a lot of empathy.”
A leader on the pitch and in the dressing room, Chelsea’s No8 will be a key figure as the Blues bid for more success in the months ahead.
