Transfer News: Timo Werner confirms leaving Chelsea for RB Leipzig. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
While speaking in the post-match press conference, as quoted by Daily Mail, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel revealed that striker Timo Werner didn’t want to come off the bench during the FA Cup final against Liverpool.
Chelsea played an intense and draining 120 minutes against the Reds in the FA Cup final. Even though the Blues’ managed to hold their composure during the game-time, they fell short in the penalty shootout and lost 6-5 on the night.
Thomas Tuchel struggled to bring on fit players as his injury-stricken squad didn’t have much to offer him. After substituting Christian Pulisic, he wanted to make a like-for-like change, but due to the lack of players available, he had to engage Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the tie.
In the post-match press conference, the German manager suggested that after feeling hamstring pain during the warm-up, Timo Werner ruled himself out of the game as he wasn’t ready to take up the risk. Knowing his speed, it would have been a tasty prospect seeing him target a tired Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip.
“Then Timo felt uncomfortable in the warm-up and said he could not play. A hamstring as well. We had no options.”
The former Dortmund manager added that even though Chelsea have a strong team for winning titles, they are lagging behind Liverpool due to the depth in the squad. He even added that the sanctions might have made it further challenging for them.
“We have everything to win trophies, but there is a gap because Liverpool have built a team over many years. The sanctions will not make it any easier to close it.”
Chelsea’s season got worse after a second loss against Liverpool in a domestic final. Earlier this term, the Carabao Cup final was an indication that the Blues might not be in the same basket as Manchester City and Klopp’s men. Now yesterday’s defeat proved that the West London team had some problems that may need fixing.
Due to the fitness issues of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, they couldn’t be engaged in yesterday’s match, and Thomas Tuchel had to start with Romelu Lukaku, Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount in the front line.
Even though Pulisic had a good outing, Lukaku’s poor performance made it even harder for Chelsea to come back into the match. After the USMNT star was subbed off, midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek couldn’t show the same hunger in front of the goal as the winger.
The schedule for English top-flight teams is already pretty hectic. On top of that, playing high-intensity matches like these brings significant risks to players’ fitness. Chelsea have to gain quality depth in every department to avoid such instances.
It is no secret that N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic were doubts coming into this game. The Croatian started the game but was subbed off, while the Frenchman came on later in the game. It could have been a different story had they started together and played the entirety of the game- because we know they can when they are at their 100%.
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