Pundits name something Liam Delap can do which other Chelsea strikers “really struggled” with | OneFootball

Chelsea played their first Club World Cup game last night, and while everyone was happy to get a win, the real excitement for many fans was in seeing our new players in action.

Delap shines in limited minutes with excellent physicality

Liam Delap on his Chelsea debut. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

None of them starter, but we got to see Dario Essugo and Liam Delap in the second half. Delap in particular made a real impact in limited minutes, and even picked up an assist. The London is Blue podcast’s review of the game had some early thoughts on his impact:

“What I liked seeing was I think his second touch on the ball, where one of the LAFC defenders was trying to drag him to the ground, and he basically was like ‘nah dawg, I’m not going down to the ground with you’, shrugging him off. We’ve had some striker strikers in our recent history who have really struggled to stay up in the Premier League. That is not going to be a problem for Liam Delap,” presenter Dan Dormer noted.

You can see them discussing the striker in the clip embedded here:

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1934951570640081241

Delap working on timing and combinations with teammates

While his physicality is obviously going to be useful from day one, it will take him a little longer to figure out his links to his teammates, something his rival up top Nicolas Jackson does really well:

“In terms of combinations and making runs, making himself available, [Delap] was definitely trying to find the right channels, you saw him like trying to guide other players to him and around him. So it looked like whether that was Cucurella or Lavia, so people around him getting forward had an outlet to put the ball into. So I think there’s plenty more we’ll get to see from Liam Delap.”