11. Noni Madueke

[ZAPHOD2319 3,873]

Stay healthy Noni!

 

[Johnnyeye 7,414]

Welcome to the club lad, London is blue 💙

[DDA 9,570]

 

 

[Hamilton 2,118]

Good luck Noni!

[nyikolajevics 2,422]

In the official website, he is still not first squad member and hasn’t got squad number.

Maybe we wait for someone’s departure? 

[Blue Armour 4,164]

What I love the most about it is just how quickly pundits and ex footballers were quick to realize how dangerous he can be, just after a cameo appearance 

[Blue Armour 4,164]

 Wrong topic

Edited January 22, 2023 by Blue Armour

[James 5,140]

OFFICIAL: Noni Madueke will wear the no.31 shirt at Chelsea.

[Pizy 17,860]

Terrible squad number for an attacking winger 😬😬😬

[nyikolajevics 2,422]

32 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Terrible squad number for an attacking winger 😬😬😬

??

How can a squad number 12 and over be terrible for any position?

 

Just play as good as young Sterling and I'll be happy.

[Vesper 27,310]

Noni Madueke: Quick, skilful and Chelsea’s perfect complement for Mykhailo Mudryk

https://theathletic.com/4116397/2023/01/25/noni-madueke-Chelsea-mudryk-analysis/

As far as Noni Madueke is concerned, moving to Chelsea is simply the fulfilment of a grand plan for his career forged while he was still in his teens.

Jadon Sancho had hardly begun blazing his trail in Borussia Dortmund’s first team when, in the summer of 2018, the 16-year-old Madueke decided to leave Tottenham Hotspur’s academy and rebuff interest from several of Europe’s elite clubs to join PSV Eindhoven. The trend of talented English youngsters swapping top Premier League academies for continental giants to supercharge their development was not yet established, but Madueke was sufficiently cool-headed and confident to recognise the better pathway.

Confidence has never been an issue for Madueke, a rapid left-footed right-winger charmingly convinced of his football destiny and ability to be, in his own words, “a bit of a showman”. “I try to beat players,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports in April 2022. “I am fast. I have an eye for goal. That is how I would describe myself.”

PSV have enjoyed plenty of all of those qualities, despite lingering hamstring issues that plagued his 2021-22 season and an ankle injury that limited his involvement in the first half of the current campaign. Questions about his physical durability are perhaps the only reason Madueke has remained in the Netherlands for four and a half years, but his senior record of 20 goals and 14 assists in 80 appearances across all competitions suggests a 20-year-old ready for a step up.

Chelsea clearly think so, having paid €33million (£28.5million) to secure him on a contract that runs until June 2031.

But what exactly can he bring to Graham Potter’s lavish rebuild? The Athletic took a closer look…

---

Madueke’s arrival at Chelsea should not be viewed in isolation.

The deals bringing him and Mykhailo Mudryk to Stamford Bridge during this January transfer window are linked by a bigger conception of the team’s new attacking identity under Potter — one that features two lightning-fast, devilishly skilled inverted wingers with insatiable appetites for goals and one-v-one dribbles.

For the best-case outcome, think Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah at Liverpool. Mudryk and Madueke have a long way to go to achieve that pair’s standard of consistent excellence, but both possess all the attributes to play the same way for Chelsea. Between them, Kai Havertz — or Joao Felix, if he sticks around beyond the end of his loan spell — would be particularly well-cast in something akin to Roberto Firmino’s pressing false nine role.

Digging into the numbers, the first thing to note is that Mudryk and Madueke are strikingly similar. Using smarterscout, we can create a statistical profile of a footballer using ratings from zero to 99 to show how often they perform a specific action compared to others playing in their position, or how effective they are at it.

Here is Madueke’s profile from the 2021-22 Eredivisie season with PSV…

… and here is Mudryk’s, based on his league minutes for Shakhtar Donetsk in the first half of this season…

As you can see in the graphics above, Mudryk and Madueke are exceptionally high-volume dribblers (carry & dribble volume) and shooters (shot volume) who bring the required intensity to fit into a modern pressing system. Madueke was more involved in build-up play at PSV while Mudryk more frequently received the ball in transition situations at Shakhtar — a distinction that might say more about the styles of their respective former teams than it does about their individual skill sets.

Madueke was most often deployed high and wide on the right of attack at PSV, though Roger Schmidt also used him as a second striker in his 4-2-2-2 system. The plan was generally to deliver him the ball in this type of position (below) with space to run at the opposition full-back, often after a quick switch of play from the left to the right flank…

In this scenario, Madueke’s speed and skill make him a nightmare to deal with. He is more than capable of racing past the majority of full-backs on the outside and cutting the ball back accurately from the byline with his right foot, but his clear preference is to drive infield at an angle onto his favoured left and create space for a shot.

That is exactly what he does here against AC Milan, hammering a high shot inside the near post:

Madueke’s clean ball striking makes him a scoring threat in a variety of ways when cutting infield. In the second half of the same match against Milan, he receives the ball in a similar position on the right, and again drives forward intent on creating a shooting chance…

This time, when the opportunity presents itself, he instead curls a low shot just inside the far post…

Opponents have found these angled bursts difficult to contain even when they load their defences towards the right flank.

In the signature performance of his career to date, Madueke scored twice as PSV demolished arch-rivals Ajax 4-0 in the Johan Cruyff Shield to kick off the 2021-22 season. His first goal is the product of a run that sees him burst between two defenders…

… and reach the edge of the penalty area, from where he whips a low shot just inside the near post…

His second underlined what a problem Madueke is for defenders in transitional situations. Here, he receives the ball with space to attack and two team-mates to his left marked by retreating Ajax defenders…

Once he recognises that no one is coming to try to tackle him, Madueke surges into the penalty area himself…

… and hammers the ball into the net with his right foot…

It was Madueke’s scoring prowess that convinced Schmidt he could be effective in a more central attacking role. “Noni scores a lot in training and feels good as one of the two strikers,” he said “He gets into goalscoring positions because he has good timing, and he is explosive when he gets the ball.

“For a striker, it is always nice if you are fast, but it’s not just his speed: he reads the game well and is technically sound.”

The below sequence, of Madueke’s first goal this season against NEC Nijmegen, highlights his smart movement away from the right flank. He sends Cody Gakpo running into the right channel with a pass…

… and, having continued his own run to the penalty spot, recognises an opportunity to dart in front of his marker…

He is found by an excellent ball, takes one touch to control with his left foot and finds the bottom far corner with his right…

Madueke’s pedigree as a central attacking midfielder at youth level — he only shifted to the right wing at PSV aged 17 — shows up in his ability to find passes in tight spaces.

Here, against NAC Breda, he threads a pass between three defenders to send a team-mate clean through on goal…

In a Champions League qualifying play-off against Midtjylland, he slips the return pass for a slick one-two into the narrow gap between two opponents…

When given a little more space, Madueke has both the vision to see incisive passes and the technique to execute them. Here, against Heracles, he quickly recognises where his open team-mate is as he drives infield from the right flank with his head up…

… and he waits for the angle to open up before playing the pass…

Madueke will face a significantly higher standard of defender and opposition game plan in the Premier League, but there is no obvious reason why his speed, skill and intelligence would not translate to make him an effective winger in England’s top flight.

---

Madueke’s recent injury history is by far the biggest risk for Chelsea, particularly on a contract that runs into the next decade. Between the hamstring problems that beset him last season and the ankle injury sustained in training that sidelined him from the end of July to mid-October 2022, he has missed 43 matches for PSV across all competitions over the last two campaigns.

Chelsea already have another recent first-team signing on a long contract with an extensive injury record in centre-back Wesley Fofana, while striker Armando Broja ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament only three months into a six-year extension at Stamford Bridge. Then there is Reece James, who in theory could form a highly potent attacking combination with Madueke on the right flank. It will be down to the club’s medical staff to ensure that the partnership gets a chance to be more than theoretical.

In every other respect, Madueke profiles as exactly the sort of player Chelsea should be targeting given Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s desire to invest in younger talent. He is a genuinely explosive attacking weapon who has shown the potential to become an elite scorer as well as a high-level creator in a mid-tier European league, and his skill set provides a natural balance to Mudryk’s light-speed runs from the left wing.

Madueke is unlikely to be a consistent Premier League difference-maker immediately, though he will undoubtedly back himself to be so. His game remains a little raw around the edges and even the most productive Eredivisie attackers find it difficult to be as frequently decisive against better defences in the strongest league in the world.

But one aspect of his record in Dutch football suggests that Madueke could be useful to Potter as early as this season: his 13 goals and 10 assists for PSV across the Eredivisie, Europa League and UEFA Conference League came despite just 31 of his 67 appearances being starts, indicating that he is well adapted to impacting matches from the substitutes’ bench.

Madueke’s signing, along with prising Omari Hutchinson from Arsenal last summer, ensures Chelsea have a succession plan for the unsettled Hakim Ziyech. They also have a vision for how the attacking unit of this team should look under Potter — and with Mudryk on one side and Madueke on another, everything about it is dynamic and exciting.

Edited January 26, 2023 by Vesper

[Artandur 938]

10 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Noni Madueke: Quick, skilful and Chelsea’s perfect complement for Mykhailo Mudryk

https://theathletic.com/4116397/2023/01/25/noni-madueke-Chelsea-mudryk-analysis/

As far as Noni Madueke is concerned, moving to Chelsea is simply the fulfilment of a grand plan for his career forged while he was still in his teens.

Jadon Sancho had hardly begun blazing his trail in Borussia Dortmund’s first team when, in the summer of 2018, the 16-year-old Madueke decided to leave Tottenham Hotspur’s academy and rebuff interest from several of Europe’s elite clubs to join PSV Eindhoven. The trend of talented English youngsters swapping top Premier League academies for continental giants to supercharge their development was not yet established, but Madueke was sufficiently cool-headed and confident to recognise the better pathway.

Confidence has never been an issue for Madueke, a rapid left-footed right-winger charmingly convinced of his football destiny and ability to be, in his own words, “a bit of a showman”. “I try to beat players,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports in April 2022. “I am fast. I have an eye for goal. That is how I would describe myself.”

PSV have enjoyed plenty of all of those qualities, despite lingering hamstring issues that plagued his 2021-22 season and an ankle injury that limited his involvement in the first half of the current campaign. Questions about his physical durability are perhaps the only reason Madueke has remained in the Netherlands for four and a half years, but his senior record of 20 goals and 14 assists in 80 appearances across all competitions suggests a 20-year-old ready for a step up.

Chelsea clearly think so, having paid €33million (£28.5million) to secure him on a contract that runs until June 2031.

But what exactly can he bring to Graham Potter’s lavish rebuild? The Athletic took a closer look…

---

Madueke’s arrival at Chelsea should not be viewed in isolation.

The deals bringing him and Mykhailo Mudryk to Stamford Bridge during this January transfer window are linked by a bigger conception of the team’s new attacking identity under Potter — one that features two lightning-fast, devilishly skilled inverted wingers with insatiable appetites for goals and one-v-one dribbles.

For the best-case outcome, think Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah at Liverpool. Mudryk and Madueke have a long way to go to achieve that pair’s standard of consistent excellence, but both possess all the attributes to play the same way for Chelsea. Between them, Kai Havertz — or Joao Felix, if he sticks around beyond the end of his loan spell — would be particularly well-cast in something akin to Roberto Firmino’s pressing false nine role.

Digging into the numbers, the first thing to note is that Mudryk and Madueke are strikingly similar. Using smarterscout, we can create a statistical profile of a footballer using ratings from zero to 99 to show how often they perform a specific action compared to others playing in their position, or how effective they are at it.

Here is Madueke’s profile from the 2021-22 Eredivisie season with PSV…

… and here is Mudryk’s, based on his league minutes for Shakhtar Donetsk in the first half of this season…

As you can see in the graphics above, Mudryk and Madueke are exceptionally high-volume dribblers (carry & dribble volume) and shooters (shot volume) who bring the required intensity to fit into a modern pressing system. Madueke was more involved in build-up play at PSV while Mudryk more frequently received the ball in transition situations at Shakhtar — a distinction that might say more about the styles of their respective former teams than it does about their individual skill sets.

Madueke was most often deployed high and wide on the right of attack at PSV, though Roger Schmidt also used him as a second striker in his 4-2-2-2 system. The plan was generally to deliver him the ball in this type of position (below) with space to run at the opposition full-back, often after a quick switch of play from the left to the right flank…

In this scenario, Madueke’s speed and skill make him a nightmare to deal with. He is more than capable of racing past the majority of full-backs on the outside and cutting the ball back accurately from the byline with his right foot, but his clear preference is to drive infield at an angle onto his favoured left and create space for a shot.

That is exactly what he does here against AC Milan, hammering a high shot inside the near post:

Madueke’s clean ball striking makes him a scoring threat in a variety of ways when cutting infield. In the second half of the same match against Milan, he receives the ball in a similar position on the right, and again drives forward intent on creating a shooting chance…

This time, when the opportunity presents itself, he instead curls a low shot just inside the far post…

Opponents have found these angled bursts difficult to contain even when they load their defences towards the right flank.

In the signature performance of his career to date, Madueke scored twice as PSV demolished arch-rivals Ajax 4-0 in the Johan Cruyff Shield to kick off the 2021-22 season. His first goal is the product of a run that sees him burst between two defenders…

… and reach the edge of the penalty area, from where he whips a low shot just inside the near post…

His second underlined what a problem Madueke is for defenders in transitional situations. Here, he receives the ball with space to attack and two team-mates to his left marked by retreating Ajax defenders…

Once he recognises that no one is coming to try to tackle him, Madueke surges into the penalty area himself…

… and hammers the ball into the net with his right foot…

It was Madueke’s scoring prowess that convinced Schmidt he could be effective in a more central attacking role. “Noni scores a lot in training and feels good as one of the two strikers,” he said “He gets into goalscoring positions because he has good timing, and he is explosive when he gets the ball.

“For a striker, it is always nice if you are fast, but it’s not just his speed: he reads the game well and is technically sound.”

The below sequence, of Madueke’s first goal this season against NEC Nijmegen, highlights his smart movement away from the right flank. He sends Cody Gakpo running into the right channel with a pass…

… and, having continued his own run to the penalty spot, recognises an opportunity to dart in front of his marker…

He is found by an excellent ball, takes one touch to control with his left foot and finds the bottom far corner with his right…

Madueke’s pedigree as a central attacking midfielder at youth level — he only shifted to the right wing at PSV aged 17 — shows up in his ability to find passes in tight spaces.

Here, against NAC Breda, he threads a pass between three defenders to send a team-mate clean through on goal…

In a Champions League qualifying play-off against Midtjylland, he slips the return pass for a slick one-two into the narrow gap between two opponents…

When given a little more space, Madueke has both the vision to see incisive passes and the technique to execute them. Here, against Heracles, he quickly recognises where his open team-mate is as he drives infield from the right flank with his head up…

… and he waits for the angle to open up before playing the pass…

Madueke will face a significantly higher standard of defender and opposition game plan in the Premier League, but there is no obvious reason why his speed, skill and intelligence would not translate to make him an effective winger in England’s top flight.

---

Madueke’s recent injury history is by far the biggest risk for Chelsea, particularly on a contract that runs into the next decade. Between the hamstring problems that beset him last season and the ankle injury sustained in training that sidelined him from the end of July to mid-October 2022, he has missed 43 matches for PSV across all competitions over the last two campaigns.

Chelsea already have another recent first-team signing on a long contract with an extensive injury record in centre-back Wesley Fofana, while striker Armando Broja ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament only three months into a six-year extension at Stamford Bridge. Then there is Reece James, who in theory could form a highly potent attacking combination with Madueke on the right flank. It will be down to the club’s medical staff to ensure that the partnership gets a chance to be more than theoretical.

In every other respect, Madueke profiles as exactly the sort of player Chelsea should be targeting given Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s desire to invest in younger talent. He is a genuinely explosive attacking weapon who has shown the potential to become an elite scorer as well as a high-level creator in a mid-tier European league, and his skill set provides a natural balance to Mudryk’s light-speed runs from the left wing.

Madueke is unlikely to be a consistent Premier League difference-maker immediately, though he will undoubtedly back himself to be so. His game remains a little raw around the edges and even the most productive Eredivisie attackers find it difficult to be as frequently decisive against better defences in the strongest league in the world.

But one aspect of his record in Dutch football suggests that Madueke could be useful to Potter as early as this season: his 13 goals and 10 assists for PSV across the Eredivisie, Europa League and UEFA Conference League came despite just 31 of his 67 appearances being starts, indicating that he is well adapted to impacting matches from the substitutes’ bench.

Madueke’s signing, along with prising Omari Hutchinson from Arsenal last summer, ensures Chelsea have a succession plan for the unsettled Hakim Ziyech. They also have a vision for how the attacking unit of this team should look under Potter — and with Mudryk on one side and Madueke on another, everything about it is dynamic and exciting.

Been reading a bunch about his elite mentality. After Santos and Mudryk i'm beginning to see a pattern in our recruiment here, which i really like - Gusto seems to be of the same ilk

Edited January 26, 2023 by Artandur

[ZAPHOD2319 3,873]

 

[DDA 9,570]

1 hour ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

 

Sounds like Madueke has a winners mentality himself.... thats what we needed here... warriors. 

[NikkiCFC 7,580]

So far looks like another B. Traore but jury is still out ofc. 

I thought him, DDF and Mount is worst possible front 3 we could start. First 2 clearly not ready and Mount is Mount. 

First half stats:

Possession: 49:51

Attempt on goal: 6:7

Second half:

73:27

11:1

2nd half only problem was not being clinical enough just like in Dortmund. Difference was night and day when Sterling, Havertz and Mudryk were introduced. 

With playing only one game per week mostly till the end of the season we really don't need to see much rotation now when players are coming back from injuries. 

Team that should try to gel for the future is: Kepa, James, Fofana, Badiashile, Chilwell, Kante, Enzo, Felix, Mudryk, Sterling, Havertz. 

Silva, Zakaria, Kovacic, Gallagher should also be there. Others not so much. 

Edited February 19, 2023 by NikkiCFC

[Vegetable 787]

On 02/02/2023 at 00:41, DDA said:

Sounds like Madueke has a winners mentality himself.... thats what we needed here... warriors. 

For the love of lord just hope the club can make everything for this fella to avoid the injuries

[OhForAGreavsie 5,775]

I said last week that I felt Noni was not starting quality and that he could be an impact sub instead. After yesterday I fear that, in saying this, I might have been too generous.

[Hashishi 148]

20 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

I said last week that I felt Noni was not starting quality and that he could be an impact sub instead. After yesterday I fear that, in saying this, I might have been too generous.

He looks like an impact sub in Eredivisie quality. A baby can control his dribble better than Noni.... such a donkey buy.