The German stopper might look like the odd man out in this list, but the truth is that Rüdiger is is one of the main reasons why Maurizio Sarri's tactics has flourished at Stamford Bridge. With Rüdiger's quality, Sarri has the luxury of two ball playing defenders at his disposal and this has been essential for the successful implementation of Sarri ball.
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Las season, Rüdiger had 2 goals from 27 games and averaged 63 passes per game. He completed 1079 passes and as such, did not even make the top 20 passers in the Premier League. However, this season, the German already has completed 986 passes in 12 games, averaging above 82 passes per match and barring the one game against West Ham, has completed 90 minutes every time for Chelsea in the Premier League. He has 1099 touches on the ball so far, the 7th most in the league.
Sarri's influence had unleased a new Rüdiger and the German defender has repaid the faith bestowed on him by his boss, by becoming the third best passer in the Premier League so far.
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Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.
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