How Chelsea could use previously unwanted star to unlock the best from Joao Pedro | OneFootball

The London is Blue podcast had an interesting chat about Marc Guiu this week, noting how useful he could be for getting Joao Pedro back to his best.

“One thing I noticed when Marc Guiu came on, of course his first appearance of the season since being called back from Sunderland in August, is that he physically can run. And so Guiu looked ready to go and was pressing super high, which leads to turnovers,” presenter Nick Verlaney said.

“It’s a lot of work doing that job. Like, you really need to know how to press. You have to make all sorts of fools errand runs to try and close down a goalkeeper, to get an errant pass out. And I’m curious if Maresca realised, maybe while Joao Pedro is getting up to speed from whatever he’s carrying, if potentially you throw him into the number 10 for a little bit and use Guiu up top.”

You can see their discussion in the clip embedded here:

Guiu looks more of a second half option for Blues

Marc Guiu against Liverpool. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

The most likely starting setup for Chelsea in the next few weeks, with Cole Palmer out is likely going to be Romeo Lavia coming into midfield with Enzo Fernandez pushing forward into the number ten. We’ve also considered leaving Enzo deep and playing Facundo Buonanotte in the hole.

But this is another option which sounds really viable – we just think it will be in the second half of games when Guiu can really make an impact with his running.

In other news…

Chelsea’s endless quest to add more attacking talent has once again landed on Kenan Yildiz, a superb talent but one who really looks out of our price bracket.

Meanwhile, as a painful international break drags on, the new Gerrard vs. Lampard debate appears to have emerged. Declan Rice against Moises Caicedo.