Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel opens up on the recent resurgence of Saul Niguez
Saul Niguez has been sensational for the past two games, which has prompted Thomas Tuchel to comment on his recent resurgence for Chelsea. The former has had some rough patches at Stamford Bridge, but he has looked on the way to return to his usual quality for which he was brought in from Atletico Madrid.
The Spaniard had arguably the Man of the Match performance against Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals. He enjoyed a similar display against Chesterfield in the FA Cup third round, which would be a huge boost for the Blues as they are set to run into a difficult run of fixtures.
Speaking in an interview with the club’s media (h/t Chelsea official website), Tuchel explained how Saul looks like a different man compared to his early-season form. The boss added how the midfielder has more confidence, is in better fitness and has adapted to the Premier League.
“I think he [Saul] will be an important player for us and I hope so as well. I see more confidence in him with each game, he is in good shape and his adaptation to the way we play has gone further from before. You can see this in his game now. He is more open, he understands the language better now and these are all important things to consider when talking about Saul and how much he has improved recently.”
Turnaround in the making?
The 27-year-old is still technically on loan as we have not activated the buy option in his contract. He could still end up returning to Wanda Metropolitano at the end of this campaign. Competition in midfield is high, plus the loanees like Conor Gallagher and Billy Gilmour are bound to return next season.
If the Spain international has a future with us past this term, then he would have to replicate the form he had shown a couple of years ago. He could attain that stage once again if he keeps on performing like this in the coming months. That’s not all, as if he does it, especially in the next couple of matches, we could see a confidence boost within himself.
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That is because we will face Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City in the next two games. Winning against Tottenham would push us to the Carabao Cup finals, whereas getting three points against Man City would help us mount pressure on the league leaders.
If the loanee has a great showing and contributes heavily to the success in those high profile matches, he would have a perfect stage to put behind the nightmares of the past. But that does not mean he can let up as N’Golo Kante. Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho and Mason Mount have been in splendid form, indicating the challenge he has up ahead to gain a regular spot. Time will tell, though, whether the Spanish midfielder would play for us past this season or not.
