20 August 2023 , 22:02
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Jamie Carragher tore into Moises Caicedo after Chelsea 's new £115million signing capped a "nightmare" debut by giving away a penalty in Sunday's 3-1 loss at West Ham.
The Blues shelled out a British record transfer fee last week in order to bring Caicedo to Stamford Bridge, fending off interest from Liverpool in the process. As such, the Ecuador international, who forged a reputation as one of the Premier League 's finest midfielders during his fruitful two-year stint at Brighton, was named on the bench by Mauricio Pochettino for Chelsea's derby clash.
Caicedo was introduced just after the hour with the Blues trailing 2-1 - but the 21-year-old gave away a penalty with an awful challenge on Emerson Palmieri late on to put the game beyond Chelsea.
Carragher, who was commentating on the match for Sky Sports, was less than impressed with Caicedo's cameo and tore into him following the penalty decision. He said: “That man Caicedo has had a bit of a nightmare since he came on, you have to say.
“It’s a poor, lazy challenge. Emerson always knows he’ll get there before him. We all did watching it! He hasn’t started great since coming on.”
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Jamie Redknapp, who was also analysing the game for Sky, defended Caicedo's performance and insisted that it was down to a lack of match action.
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Caicedo had a debut to forget after being put on in the second half by Mauricio Pochettino (Matt Impey/REX/Shutterstock)He said: “Caicedo hasn't had any minutes for 60 days and you can see that rustiness. Only the manager knows whether he was ready and he isn't quite there yet. He will get better. As it can only get better after giving a penalty on your debut.”
Despite his disastrous debut, big things are expected of Caicedo after Chelsea acquired him from Brighton in what is now the most expensive transfer in British history. Pochettino conceded after the match that while Caicedo would be disappointed with his performance, he backed the talented midfielder to become a big player for the Blues moving forward.
The Argentina said: “He was telling us he was ready, I think 30 minutes is good for him, many positive things and he is maybe disappointed but we need to move on and he will be a good player for us. I cannot change my speech after Liverpool we needed to believe in the process and we need to keep being clam and that is the process.”