{"id":6804,"date":"2026-05-10T15:37:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T15:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=6804"},"modified":"2026-05-10T15:37:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T15:37:06","slug":"john-barnes-takes-aim-at-chelseas-andrey-santos-for-being-too-slow-against-liverpool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=6804","title":{"rendered":"John Barnes takes aim at Chelsea&#8217;s Andrey Santos for being &#8216;too slow&#8217; against Liverpool"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-367366\">\n<div class=\"article-follow\">\n<div class=\"article-sharing google-follow\">  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> <span>Add as preferred source on Google<\/span>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Despite Chelsea\u2019s dismal run of form in the Premier League, Calum McFarlane will feel his side could have beaten Liverpool on Saturday, and John Barnes thinks Andrey Santos is to blame.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Two sides out of form and with an expectant fanbase piling the pressure on met at Anfield on Saturday. The scoreline read 1-1 at full-time, with Enzo Fernandez cancelling out Ryan Gravenberch\u2019s opener.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-grvmedia-grv-video GRVMultiVideo\"\/>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar-poll\" data-story-id=\"778db1d5-05a5-4b2e-9f9b-b95ab7dbecc5\" data-story-name=\"Chelsea vs Liverpool\" data-comment-id=\"5fa6ce74-df19-4d20-bf4c-a326ddcacd92\" data-story-slug=\"chelsea-vs-liverpool\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<p><h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">Who was your Man of the Match vs Liverpool?<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"715\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-1024x715.jpg\" alt=\"Liverpool v Chelsea - Premier League\" class=\"wp-image-367235\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-1024x715.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-768x536.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-1536x1073.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-1140x796.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275297406-750x524.jpg 750w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MAY 09: Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Wesley Fofana during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on May 09, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley\/Getty Images)\">Photo by Gareth Copley\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Liverpool had a goal disallowed and hit the woodwork twice in the second half, though Chelsea were the better side for much of the game. Joao Pedro might feel he deserved a penalty with the scores tied.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, a solid point for Chelsea given the run of recent form, the lack of Premier League goals, and that it was an away trip to Anfield. However, it could have been more, and Barnes criticised Santos.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-john-barnes-thinks-andrey-santos-could-have-done-more\">John Barnes thinks Andrey Santos could have done more<\/h2>\n<p>It didn\u2019t take long, but Liverpool were ahead with their first shot on goal, as Gravenberch curled a superb shot into the top corner. Filip Jorgensen might be slightly disappointed, but it was a stunning strike.<\/p>\n<p>However, on Premier League Productions, Liverpool legend Barnes criticised Brazil midfielder Santos for failing to close Gravenberch down sooner. Indeed, Barnes believes Santos was five yards off the pace.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-getty-images-media\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"657\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275300844-1024x657.jpg\" alt=\"Liverpool v Chelsea - Premier League\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275300844-1024x657.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275300844-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275300844-768x492.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275300844-1536x985.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275300844-1140x731.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275300844-750x481.jpg 750w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MAY 09: (SUN OUT, SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Rio Ngumoha of Liverpool runs with the ball under pressure from Andrey Santos and Malo Gusto of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on May 09, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Liverpool FC\/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)\">Photo by Liverpool FC\/Liverpool FC via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cChelsea are in a good defensive position, but he (Santos) takes too long to come out. They have lots of men behind the ball, it\u2019s a really good line,\u201d Barnes said, while re-watching Liverpool\u2019s opener yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut from that position, Andrey Santos has to come five yards further forward, and he could have got closer to the shot. He looks four, five times at the space, but he\u2019s too slow to come out,\u201d Barnes added.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-andrey-santos-disappoints-in-first-start-since-man-city-defeat\">Andrey Santos disappoints in first start since Man City defeat<\/h2>\n<p>With Pedro Neto, Jesse Derry, Estevao and Alejandro Garnacho all missing, McFarlane was forced to have a reshuffle. He decided on 3-4-2-1, in which Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez sat behind Joao Pedro.<\/p>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar\" data-story-id=\"778db1d5-05a5-4b2e-9f9b-b95ab7dbecc5\" data-story-name=\"Chelsea vs Liverpool\" data-comment-id=\"8d772b96-d2a5-477d-a53b-0db500f9aa4d\" data-story-slug=\"chelsea-vs-liverpool\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-content\">\n<h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">DISCUSS: McFarlane needs to drop Santos for FA Cup final \ud83d\udd3d<\/h3>\n<p class=\"grv-talking-point__subtitle\">He was Chelsea&#8217;s worst player against Liverpool, according to the stats.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/long-form-stat-graphic-3-819x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-367371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/long-form-stat-graphic-3-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/long-form-stat-graphic-3-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/long-form-stat-graphic-3-768x960.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/long-form-stat-graphic-3-912x1140.png 912w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/long-form-stat-graphic-3-600x750.png 600w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/05\/long-form-stat-graphic-3.png 1080w\"\/><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Given Fernandez was pushed forward, McFarlane chose Santos over Romeo Lavia. It was the midfielder\u2019s first start since Chelsea were hammered 3-0 by Man City, Liam Rosenior\u2019s second-last game in charge.<\/p>\n<p>But the Brazilian struggled. According to FotMob, Santos was Chelsea\u2019s worst player on the day, earning a rating of just 6.4. Only four players were worse, two of which were substitutes brought on by Arne Slot.<\/p>\n<p>With the FA Cup final next up for Chelsea, McFarlane has a decision to make. Does he put Santos\u2019 display down to rustiness and a lack of game time, and keep him in the side, or does he change it up again?<\/p>\n<div class=\"see-more-wrapper lazy see-more-open see-more-blank extra-content\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/match-coverage\/john-barnes-takes-aim-at-chelseas-andrey-santos-for-being-too-slow-against-liverpool\/none\" data-type=\"subscribe\">\n<div class=\"see-more subscribe\">\n<figure class=\"newsletter\">\n<div><svg class=\"loading\" width=\"118\" height=\"36\" viewbox=\"0 0 118 36\"><use href=\"#dots-svg\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<div class=\"signup\"><span class=\"hf\">Join Our Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script>grvLoadAnalytics = () => {(function(d,s,i){var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0),j=d.createElement(s);j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtag\/js?id=\"+i;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(document,'script','G-E7VRWQHDP6');(function(d,s,i){if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){var e=d.createElement(s);var n=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0);e.type=\"text\/javascript\";e.async=true;e.src=\"https:\/\/static.chartbeat.com\/js\/chartbeat.js\";n.parentNode.insertBefore(e,n);}})(document,\"script\",\"G-E7VRWQHDP6\");(function(){let s=document.createElement(\"script\");s.async=true;s.dataset.domain=\"thechelseachronicle.com\/MFj4XQ\";s.src=\"https:\/\/api.publytics.net\/js\/script.manual.ping.min.js\";document.getElementsByTagName(\"head\")(0).appendChild(s);})();if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){setTimeout(function(){!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','663509325503632');fbq('track','PageView');fbq('track','ViewContent',{content_name:'John Barnes takes aim at Chelsea&#8217;s Andrey Santos for being &#8216;too slow&#8217; against Liverpool',content_category:'Match Coverage',content_ids:(367366,\"andrey-santos\"),content_type:'post',});},3000);}}<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Add as preferred source on Google Despite Chelsea\u2019s dismal run of form in the Premier&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}