‘You are special’ – Tuchel stunned by underused star
Thomas Tuchel was amazed that Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek hadn’t played more matches for the club, according to reports.
Loftus-Cheek made his first Premier League start since September 2020 on Saturday after spending last season on loan at relegated Fulham.
The 25-year-old was expected to be outside the matchday squad for most of the season after a summer move failed to materialise.
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Loftus-Cheek starred in defensive midfield in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Southampton and a report in The Athletic claims that Tuchel told Loftus-Cheek how impressed he was after just a few days of working with him.
An insider told the website: “Ruben walked across and Tuchel said something along the lines of, ‘You are special. I cannot believe you haven’t played more for Chelsea’. It was a great thing for him to hear.”
With his first Premier League start of the season under his belt, Loftus-Cheek will now be looking to cement his place in the team.
Chelsea boss Tuchel recently publicly hailed Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley for putting their heads down and working their way back into first-team contention.
“Ross had a very good situation already in Juventus where he delivered the pass to Romelu Lukaku for our biggest chance in the game,” said Tuchel.
“But the most important thing is that Ruben and Ross feel no pressure, they are happy to have these chances, feel this support.
“Maybe they could not imagine to get minutes and important minutes six weeks ago. They can help us because they have this totally positive spirit because they don’t feel this pressure.
“In the last two games we felt something was lacking. So we decided to put Ruben in because we were aware of the high pressing in midfield and still we wanted to go through midfield.
“Ruben and Mateo Kovacic not only to pass but to drive through midfield. And of course for Ross we hope he can show what he’s been showing in training. He has a strong right foot and we hope he can maybe assist or shoot from distance and increase the pressure around the box.”
