Chelsea slapped around Aston Villa 4-1 in a key victory in the battle for Champions League places in the Premier League, and while the stars of the night were attackers Joao Pedro and Alejandro Garnacho, Jorrel Hato had a great day at the office.
Regular starting left back and European Championship hero Marc Cucurella should be able to return soon from a minor injury, but in his absence, former Ajax captain Hato has shown that he has the makings of a star at the back end of a Blues defense that could use young stars like him.
The only defensive upgrade Chelsea made in the summer transfer window, Hato had a solid weekend against the rivals that recruited him, Arsenal, but something was lacking in terms of his quality on the ball despite a decent defensive performance.
Against Aston Villa, Hato must have listened to whatever Liam Rosenior told him, because he looked like his old Ajax self out there, calm and composed on the ball with a passing accuracy of nearly 95 percent while winning two dribbles in more of a left back performance than before.
Of course, Hato was excellent defensively, too, with a pair of tackles. He didn’t totally shut the Aston Villa attack down, but he was solid. And watching Hato out there, the sense is that all that is missing for him is that confidence literally any young defender would have in making the jump from the Dutch Eredivisie to the Premier League.
That is all Hato needs here. He just needs more confidence and experience, because he is rapidly progressing and is already, at 19 years old, good enough to be starting these games for Chelsea.
All Hato needs is what is simple to fix. It will take time, but all that Hato is lacking majorly in is confidence. He is better than most of the defenders Chelsea have at all positions.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.