Mykhailo felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Looking to the screen, he saw “Olek” and answered quickly. “Zinny!” he exclaimed. “You are ready for this match tomorrow, yes?”
“I am, Mykhailo. The question is, are you?”
There was a long sigh followed by several seconds of silence. Zinchenko started to wonder if Mudryk had hung up. “Misha, are you there?”
Finally, just as Zinchenko was about to hang up, Mudryk responded. “I don’t know if it matters if I’m ready. Olek, I don’t know if I will even play!”
“Misha, we talked about this already. You must fight to play.”
“I know this. I fight. I train. Sometimes I play 90 minutes. Sometimes I play seven. Never do I know!”
Zinchenko shook his head. “We’ve been over this. It doesn’t matter what you want. You must take your opportunities when you have them.”
“But I don’t score any goals yet! i have some assists, yes, but there is so much pressure. What was my transfer fee? 88 million?”
“Yes, you’re a Chelsea player, Mishka. You signed a long-term contract.”
“I didn’t know it was such a mess here, Olek. Everywhere there are new players and we all pay the same position. I have now my second manager since I signed, and the other players, they have unkind nickname for him. They call him Fat Frank behind his back!”
Zinchenko smirked. “Yes, I have heard this. Chelsea is a hot mess right now, but you are young. Maybe you will get more chances under a real manager. Like Arteta. He knows how he wants us to play. You see this, right?”
Again, there was a silence. This one however felt tense, taut. When Mudryk’s voice came through, there was anguish. “I wanted to join Arsenal. I see how much better Arteta makes these players. I could be like Martinelli or Saka. Instead, I feel my skills rotting away here.”
“Yes, well, don’t go correcting that any time soon, Mishka. Maybe next week is a better time to score your first goal, okay? At least you are not like that pigeon at Tottenham. Did you know he has three yellow cards for celebrating three goals, but two were disallowed? He has still the three yellow cards. Silly, silly man. I tell you what. You will have many chances to score, but not tomorrow. I see you play Bournemouth on Saturday. This will be your day to score. On that day, make sure you celebrate with your shirt on, got it?”
“Okay, Olek. Thank you. I feel better already. I will watch you play tomorrow. Maybe I will even get a chance to 1v1 you like Trent did the other day?”
Zinchenko’s eyes narrowed. “This is not such a wise thing to say, Mykhailo. Now, I have extra motivation which I will share with my teammates. You will learn lessons in humility tomorrow. Bring your notebook.”
With that, the line went dead.
Who cares about Mudryk?
He had a choice between football and money, and he took the money.
I, for one am glad we never signed him because he looks like a waste of money.
I needed a break from the standard match preview is all and figured I’d go with the Ukrainian connection. I do think Mudryk was victim to larger forces beyond his control and suspect he may not be as greedy as that fee makes him seem. The situation at Chelsea is a hot mess, but I think Mudryk will eventually prove that he’s capable of going for 10 goals a season, maybe more.
Such a good mentor! Thank you Zinch
Mudryk is good player and i know he will score many goals next season by facing many clubs but not arsenal.😄😄😄
I sympathize to a degree. Most players will struggle to justify a fee of that size, and Chelsea are an unholy mess right now. Even experienced players familiar with the Prem have looked poor.
I really don’t give a monkey’s cuss about Mudryk.
In the end, I agree…for now. He could become quite good sooner rather than later. For now, I just wanted something other than a standard match preview.
Anyway murdrick is a good player what pains me about the guy is the way he allowed clubs to determined his life,now he signs long term contracts that looked like they forced him 8yrs contracts is ridiculous to me,if care isnt taking I pray Chelsea should be better team next season underwise the carrier of murdrick might jeopardize,he might loose form finally.
I agree, I really feel like both clubs treated him like a piece of meat. He joins a club that has too many similar players, no one to create chances or dictate play, and he can’t get regular playing time. I’m sure his form and confidence will suffer as a result.