Chelsea were dire in the first half against Watford, and we all expected Thomas Tuchel to respond.
In particular the Blues’ midfield was awful, and we reckon with 5 subs and some alternatives on the bench, Tuchel would have taken off both Ruben Loftus-Cheek AND Saul.
However with his squad stretched so thin he pumped for removing just the latter – his second half-time hauling in just a handful of starts for his loan club.
Thiago Silva is on in his place, and he will play in defence, with the versatile Trevoh Chalobah stepping into midfield – a position he has some significant experience playing from his days on loan.
In fact, if you want to spin it in a relatively positive way, this is another reinforcement of the amazing progress young Chalobah has made. His manager now not only trusts him as a first team player – he trusts him as a midfielder too.