'Struggling' – Chelsea player gets rough and unfair initial verdict after debut performance

From the moment he came on the pitch for his cameo role, Delap was superb and looked like an instant nuisance and a threat.

And this is why I was very surprised to see Micah Richards say that he saw Delap struggling to start with. I don’t agree at all.

Richards on Delap

Micah Richards said: “I put a message in the group to say Delap’s struggling a bit, and two minutes later he got the assist! I thought Jackson was playing well, he’s obviously got to up his game. I’ve always been a big fan of Jackson, I think he can score more goals obviously, but his whole link up play was very, very good.

“Obviously you want to see Delap come on and score and assist, but a couple of his early touches I thought it looked a bit fast out there for him, but he grew into the game. After about 5 or 10 minutes, he was going into pockets, getting the ball, and even when he went wide, the delivery on the cross was outstanding. I just thought ‘I can see these combinations working really well next season.

“Impressive debut from Delap. Did you see his movement? There was a chance when he first came on. He went one way, didn’t get the ball, and then he curved his run, and I thought ‘oh yes, I like that’.”