Chelsea defender who won 1 ground duels against Newcastle and had a clear failure of effort must be dropped

Wesley Fofana and Joao Pedro had poor games against Newcastle, but one deserves harsher punishment than the other.

We’re taking a look back at Chelsea’s ugly defeat to Newcastle at the weekend, and have noted two players who got the lowest ratings among outfielders for the Blues on FotMob.

Wesley Fofana got a 6.6, and Joao Pedro got a 6.4. The striker managed one shot in 90 minutes, and it wasn’t on target. He completed 0 of 2 dribbles, and had just 4 touches in Newcastle’s box.

Fofana won just 1 of his 4 ground duels and 5 of his 8 aerial duels.

How Rosenior should respond to struggling Chelsea stars

Their ratings were similar, but our treatment to each of them would be very different.

Joao Pedro is by far our best option up top, and Liam Delap’s disaster cameo was another reminder

Yes the Brazilian had an off day, but that doesn’t change the fact he’s been good (sometimes great) this season, and we’ll continue to rely on him.

Fofana, on the other hand, has reached a critical level. His jogging back when attempting to defend the goal was utterly embarrassing, and it really feels like he has to be dropped now, both as a lesson to the other players and simply because of his declining form.

JP spoke in today’s press conference about “believing” against Paris tomorrow. If we’re to get anything tomorrow, he will have to step up.

Joao Pedro had accompanied Liam Rosenior to the presser, and tensions were also rising on the subject of the goal which Chelsea conceded to Newcastle.