Loan Report - Ian Maatsen
A look into how the highly rated Chelsea left back is getting on at Charlton Athletic this season
When Chelsea signed a 16-year old Ian Maatsen from PSV in 2018, he arrived at the club as a highly rated young player with so much potential.
In the last couple of years playing in the academy he has gone on to prove that potential, and he is now one of the main ones to watch amongst the youth crop.
He started his career in the Feyenoord academy but was considered too short to make it there and ended up going to PSV via Sparta. Chelsea scouts recognised his natural talent and bought him to London, where he has made one appearance for the senior team in the League Cup.
The club took the right decision to send the Holland under-18 international out on loan this season to get some vital first team experience playing senior football.
The 18-year is now plying his trade for Charlton Athletic in League One this season, and his progression is moving along nicely.
He has become a regular starter at left back for Charlton this season, contributing to them challenging for immediate promotion back into the Championship.
Manager Lee Bowyer has shown faith in the Chelsea youngster, who has rewarded that faith with some fine performances, providing 2 assists in 16 appearances from left back so far this season.
He shared these highlights on his Instagram recently, and you can see the natural ability is shining through.
Checking in on his stats this season via Who Scored, Maatsen is really holding his own.
He has an average rating of 7.05, which is very consistent, and his defensive stats look very good.
He averages 1.9 successful tackles a game, makes 2.6 interceptions, and makes 2.3 clearances.
Compare that with Chelsea’s current left back Ben Chilwell, who is making 1.2 successful tackles a game, 1.1 interceptions, and 2.1 clearances.
Of course you need perspective, this is not saying Maatsen is a better left back than Chilwell, as there are many other factors than just stats.
But this shows the exact contributions and attributes that he is bringing to his team currently and why his manager keeps picking him.
Chelsea are a totally different team to Charlton and keep the ball more, so it is unsurprising to see that Chilwell makes many more passes per match than Maatsen, 56.4 compared to 34.7.
But areas to improve for the 18-year old would be his pass completion success rate, and to look to be more of an attacking threat with crosses.
He currently makes just 0.5 crosses a match, and only has a 66.8% pass completion rate; this is compared to Chilwell’s 1.1 crosses per match, and an 80.4% pass completion rate.
For a first half a season in senior football, Maatsen is showing all the signs of becoming a top class talent in the future, and Chelsea are keeping a very close eye on him.