Thomas Tuchel provides latest injury update on Chelsea stars Hakim Ziyech and Andreas Christensen
According to Football.London, Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel has provided the latest injury updates and possible return dates of Hakim Ziyech and Andreas Christensen.
The former picked up an injury during Chelsea’s Premier League clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month. The Moroccan international since has been sidelined and is yet to feature. As Tuchel is currently shorthanded due to the injury and Covid crisis, there is massive speculation on the return date of the 28-year-old midfielder.
In the recent press conference, Thomas Tuchel suggested that Ziyech’s injury is severe, and the Moroccan midfielder needs more time for recovery. The German manager also ruled out his return for tonight’s Premier League clash against Aston Villa.
“For Hakim, I don’t know; it’s very painful. He got a kick, and it’s very painful, so not a lot of time until Aston Villa.”
Christensen woo wasn’t available for the Wolves clash after suffering from severe back pain. But Thomas Tuchel didn’t provide any good news regarding his recovery and suggested that Chelsea’s ‘bad news’ continues.
“Andreas got an injection and is also very painful in the lower back. So bad news that we’ve struggled with the same things for several days now, and of course we want to be competitive at the same time.”
Chelsea currently have an impressive amount of depth in the backline. Thomas Tuchel even used defensive players like Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah in the midfield to cover up the absences of key players in the middle of the park..
Therefore, the injury to the Danish international might not be very critical for Chelsea at the moment. But the Coronavirus outbreak has put uncertainty over players’ availability, and the sooner Christensen returns to the field, the better.
In contrast, Chelsea’s midfield problem has reached dire straits in the last week. Jorginho and Kai Havertz remain sidelined while Saúl Ñíguez and Ross Barkley haven’t been up to the task. So a void has been created in the midfield in recent weeks.
Even though N’Golo Kanté and Jorginho have returned, they haven’t achieved full fitness and risking them at this moment could create significant long term problems. With a busy few months to come, doing so could jeopardize our season.
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Ziyech and ChristianPulisic were often deployed in the attacking midfield position. But the Moroccan player’s injury obliged Thomas Tuchel to call youth players to fill positions. The current updates suggest that the German manager won’t be able to call upon the former Ajax Amsterdam man anytime soon.
Therefore, reinforcements in January should become the priority as, without quality players, the Blues wouldn’t be able to challenge for trophies this season.
