£31m Chelsea player slated by media alongside Nicolas Jackson after Flamengo loss, ‘really tricky afternoon’ for him

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Chelsea fell to an extremely disappointing 3-1 defeat at the hands of Flamengo in Friday’s Club World Cup encounter in Philadelphia.

Enzo Maresca’s side got off to a good enough start, opening the scoring through Pedro Neto in the 13th minute and taking a 1-0 lead into the break.

However, Chelsea capitulated in the second half as Bruno Henrique and Danilo turned the game around in the space of three minutes.

Nicolas Jackson was then sent off for a reckless challenge on Ayrton Lucas just four minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Wallace Yan then added a third for Flamengo to cap off a terrible evening for Chelsea.

While Jackson was deemed the worst player on the night by most, there was another player who got poor ratings all round by the media.

Malo Gusto ‘too muted’ for Chelsea against Flamengo

The player in question is Malo Gusto, who received a total of just 13 out of 30 from three post-match ratings pieces.

Goal.com gave Gusto a rating of 4 out of 10 as they wrote: “The first two goals conceded involved men left free to play the ball across from the right.

“Got forward when he could but too muted.”

Likewise, the Evening Standard awarded the £31million man a score of 4 out of 10, writing: “Endured a really tricky afternoon, beaten in the air in the lead-up to Flamengo’s first goal.”

Finally, The Express gave Gusto a rating of 5 out of 10, writing: “A tough end to last season and Reece James’ return to full fitness have left Gusto at a crossroads.

“He seemed to struggle against winger Luiz Araujo.”

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Robert Sanchez is another player who received criticism, with Mikel John Obi suggesting Chelsea should upgrade.

Meanwhile, new signing Liam Delap made his full debut on the day, and Chelsea fans liked what they saw from Delap for the most part.

Enzo Maresca has a big decision to make

Gusto is just 22, so he’s still got time to develop, and Chelsea don’t appear eager to offload him just yet.

However, with Josh Acheampong making his breakthrough, Enzo Maresca has a big decision to make in terms of his personnel.

He needs to decide whether to send Acheampong out on loan to develop further, or whether to use him as Reece James’ main back-up.

In the latter case, that would surely render Gusto surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge.