Chelsea’s official website always grab a quick pre-kick off sound bite from Thomas Tuchel, and they tend to focus on the immediate team news – as is the case today.
The most notable changes in the lineup today were the presence of Romelu Lukaku up front instead of Kai Havertz, plus the total absence from the squad of Antonio Rudiger. Tuchel addressed both in his quotes:
“We waited so long for him to come back but then he had this re-injury and then caught Covid during the international break when we wanted to build him up so now it’s time,’ said Tuchel about James.
‘We wanted to make him start in the last match against Brentford but we went for control of the minutes to bring him on only in the second half. Today he will play as long as possible. From quality and what he gives to the team, he’s a huge asset and that’s why it’s his moment to start,” the Chelsea boss explained.
“He can cause problems to anybody,’ he continued. ‘With Reece James against Brentford, we were forced to not let him start and with Christian Pulisic the same. He had three matches in the international break and jetlag with huge travel demands on his shoulders,” the former Dortmund boss went on to say.
“Now the two are back and we hope they have the impact that we want them to have. We want to play a physical and intense game and need to be fully focused because there’s a lot of quality on the other side.”
That’s a pretty comprehensive explanation of both situations, and as always Tuchel was even more open and honest with the official source than he is with the media in general.
He was later asked whether the inclusion of Lukaku was related to his excellent performance in the reverse fixture at the start of the season – and he admitted that that had played into his thinking.
Tell Thomas Tuchel that he is very f*********
Pls study other management on how to use your first eleven tight and meaningful anyway, I still love him