Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel admitted Reece James’ injury substitution during the 1-1 draw with Brighton on Wednesday had a big impact on his game plan.
Tuchel surprised many with his decision to use James in the left wing-back position.
Although, the manager also did not exactly have many options given Ben Chilwell’s long-term absence and Marcos Alonso’s recent workload.
Christian Pulisic, who recently played as a centre forward during Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, and Kai Havertz’s absences, was deployed as a right wing-back.
Unfortunately, the plan did not last long as James had to come off early in the first half due to a hamstring injury.
“It was a perfect match until the injury of Reece James and then everything collapsed, more or less,” the German told Chelsea TV.
“The next injury with Andreas Christensen, it’s a disaster, to be honest.
“Because we keep changing formation, every game we have one or two changes from injuries. It’s too much.
“I said it weeks ago it would happen, and now it happens.”
Tuchel also admitted that his team struggled to compete with Brighton physically and was understandably not happy about having to play nine games in December despite his team’s injury and Covid-19 problems.
The Blues are now eight points behind league leaders Manchester City after an underwhelming run of results in December.