Chelsea showcase new signings, but the result remains the same

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Todd Boehly and Chelsea’s new crop of players were on display this past weekend. After beating the clock and signing Enzo Fernandez for €106.8 million from Benfica, Graham Potter didn’t hesitate to use them right out of the gate. Chelsea hosted eighth-place Fulham at Stamford Bridge this past Friday. The two clubs are right next to each other on the table, with Chelsea being two points behind Fulham in ninth place.

Three weeks before, Fulham was able to defeat the Blues 2-1 at their stadium. This time, Potter started three of his new signings in his starting eleven. Benoit Badiashile, the 21-year-old center-back, was signed from French side Monaco for around €33 million this winter and started alongside Thiago Silva in the heart of the Chelsea defense. Mykhailo Mudryk was also starting his first match after getting some minutes off the bench against Liverpool. And Fernandez was also making his debut just a few days after arriving in England.

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The game went as most would think for Chelsea. With a good amount of new players in the starting eleven, there appeared to be a lack of fluidity from the midfield and upward. As soon as the back line got it through the first line of defense, the midfielders were making passes they thought the forwards were expecting, or the forwards made diagonal runs that the midfielders didn’t pick up on either.

The best chance Chelsea had in the first half was a ball Kai Havertz received over the top and tried chipping Bernd Leno, but his attempt dinked off the post and went back to Leno. In the second half, Fulham came alive and threatened Chelsea with a few shots from Willian and Paulinha that Kepa had to make a decent effort to save.

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David Fofana, the 25-year-old forward, came on in the 75th minute, while Noni Madueke came on to start the second half after Mudryk came off after dealing with some cold symptoms. These two new signings couldn’t do much more to break the deadlock as the game finished 0-0.

Chelsea’s next match is this Saturday, when they travel to West Ham, who are just one point above the relegation zone. David Moyes’ men haven’t seen the success they enjoyed last season, so this is a good opportunity for Chelsea to gain some more game time for their new players to get them more accustomed to the Premier League.

Players like Mudryk and Enzo looked the most promising from these last two games, but it’ll be up to Potter to find the right recipe this season if he wants to continue at Chelsea next year.