{Photo courtesy of Goal.com}
By Dennis Mungai
Chelsea’s new signing Moises Caicedo made his debut in a substitute appearance for the Blues. The Ecuadorian, first of that nationality to play for the Blues, came in the second half in place of Ben Chilwell and was welcomed by the travelling Chelsea fans in the match against West Ham.
It was soon a debut to forget however, after Caicedo fouled former Chelsea player Emerson in the penalty box in the dying minutes of the game. Lucas Paqueta scored the resulting penalty to finish off the match with a 3-1 win, leaving new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino still winless going into the third week of the season. The other West Ham goals were scored by Michail Antonio and Nayef Aguerd, who was later red-carded in the second half.
The 115 million- pound signing is one of the many players brought in a “rebuild” mission for Chelsea, but if today’s result is anything to go by, there’s still lots of work to be done. New captain Reece James is out with injury, again and the decision to captain Chilwell leaves many confused. There’s a lack of experience in the squad and even with 75% ball possesion, the Blues were not able to seriously threaten West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola. This may be a long shot, but if Romelu Lukaku does not leave the club, Poch may be forced to include him in his plans.
Chelsea face Luton Town next on Friday, with the latest signing Romeo Lavia hoping to make his debut. The 21 yr old moved from Southampton for about 50 Million pounds and is looking to complete the midfield trio of himself, Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez. Chelsea are currently in 15th place with 1 point from last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.