A player that was expected to solve Chelsea’s left-back issues was sent out on loan at the start of the season. Abdul Baba Rahman joined Bundesliga club Schalke barely a year after he had moved to Chelsea from Augsburg.
The 22-year-old failed to cement a place in England and would be expecting to find his form back in Germany where he thrived a couple of years ago. Schalke though have not had the best of starts to the Bundesliga and have lost all their matches this season.
The one game they played in the Europa League, ended in a win but a lot of questions are being asked about their head coach Markus Weinzierl. The entire team has been poor but how has the 22-year-old been doing?
Not a great start to his Royal Blues career
This loan deal was expected to be a chance for the Ghanaian to forget about his poor time at Chelsea but things have not gone Rahman’s way at Schalke. The Royal Blues are second last on the table, only on goal difference, and things do not look good for them.
Rahman has featured in four games for Schalke this season and his rating for the win against Nice in the Europa League was an impressive one; 7.95 based on Whoscored.com. The rest of the ratings from the Bundesliga season aren’t all that faltering.
The 22-year-old has not scored higher than 6.8 in the three Bundesliga games he has appeared in. Rahman has also been booked twice in his four appearances for Schalke and has a poor passing percentage of just 62.2%.
The Ghanaian averages 2.3 tackles and interceptions per game for Schalke this season in the Bundesliga, that is not the best number this season as a few players are already averaging 4 or more tackles a game in the league.
Rahman’s offensive contribution isn’t that great either. Apart from his poor pass completion rate, the 22-year-old defender has just one key pass and successful dribble per game, which is certainly not good enough for the team.
The left-back was known for his attacking ability but that has not come to the fore this season either. Rahman only comes in with 0.3 crosses per game, which is another poor stat to list out this season. Fortunately for the youngster there still is time and he could get better by the time the season ends.
Chelsea might have shipped him away in hopes of helping him get better but the performances have just not been there. If he continues playing like this, the Blues will probably be looking to sell Rahman as soon as possible.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.