Broja's form shows he's not ready to star for Chelsea just yet
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 21 Apr 2022 22:59 BST
- 4 min read
Armando Broja has been hailed as the solution to Chelsea's attacking woes at times this season, with the Albanian's mix of powerful running and defensive work-rate seen as the perfect blend for Thomas Tuchel.
Those claims were made even more strong following Romelu Lukaku's dip in form that has seen the Belgian international fail to hit the back of the net in a Premier League game since the turn of the year.
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However, Broja, despite all his praise, has only managed that feat twice himself - in wins over Brentford and Tottenham.
In fact, the on-loan Southampton forward has scored just six Premier League goals in 27 games this season. It's a better tally than Lukaku and Timo Werner for that matter, and given Broja is still only 20 it's encouraging, but it's not world-beating.
The Albanian's game is far more than just goal-scoring, with his ability to start counter-attacks by himself and bully defenders as a one-man team helping Southampton enormously this campaign. Performances away to Tottenham and Manchester United stand out as impressive, but Broja's form recently has taken a dip.
Not only is he still far from prolific, but his link-up and overall play hasn't been up to scratch. It's coincided with Southampton's poor form as a team, and it's cast doubts over how Broja would adapt to life at Chelsea. His performance in Saints' 2-0 defeat to Burnley caused a few rumblings of discontent with only one shot managed in 90 minutes and only 19 passes completed; he also had the worst pass accuracy of any outfield Southampton player to feature.
He was electric in pre-season games last year and has shown just why he's so highly rated this season, but the hype surrounding him may have stepped over its intended mark. Broja is clearly a good forward, having a good season, but it's perhaps nothing more than that and he seems to need time to improve.
Would Broja and Tuchel work together?
Looking at his underlying numbers and Broja only really impresses in three areas: aerial wins, interceptions and dribbles. For a striker that's not ideal, especially for a team like Chelsea.
Given how ball-dominant the Blues are under Tuchel, Broja would need to be involved in play if he's to be given a chance next year. It's something Lukaku has been criticised for and so Broja would need to emulate Kai Havertz in dropping deep at times to keep the ball moving. However, his skillset might not allow for that. According to stats website Fbref, Broja's 60.7% pass accuracy over the past year ranks him in the bottom 6% of forwards in Europe's top five leagues.
While this tally would naturally go up at Chelsea given the options around him, Broja is clearly still a raw talent with a lot to learn when it comes to that side of the game.
As someone with a superb turn of pace and the strength to hold off the toughest central defenders in the division, Broja has the physical attributes needed to match someone like Blues legend Diego Costa, but he lacks the technical intricacies right now.
Chelsea can't deal with yet another forward unsuited to the style of play Tuchel opts for, so if Broja doesn't develop his game, then he may be of little use to Chelsea next year until he adapts how he plays to better suit an elite-level side.
