Thomas Tuchel said the Chelsea players are at currently different levels in terms of match-readiness, but he has no option but to take risks amid the injury and the Covid-19 cases.
The Blues were without six key players in the 1-1 draw with Everton in midweek, including the four players who tested positive for Covid-19.
There have been some positive news ahead of Sunday’s clash against Wolves, such as N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic’s returns, as well as Kai Havertz’s testing negative for Covid.
However, Tuchel seems unsure whether Kante and Kovacic, in particular, can hit the ground running straight away after lengthy absences.
“Right now, it’s impossible, I think,” the German told Chelsea TV when asked about getting all the players to be at the same level of match sharpness.
“Mateo comes back now after eight weeks of injury and Covid, N’Golo comes back after four weeks of injury.
“[Several other] players will come back from Covid [absences] in 10 days, [and] everybody gets a different effect from it.
“I think it’s impossible to bring them on the same level. Maybe at some point, we need to accept it and just let them play, take some risks, and play [those who are available] because we’re struggling.
“We [have been] struggling for weeks in central midfield. Jorginho is in pain, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is in pain, and both are doubts for Sunday.
“At some point, we need to take some risks with other players.”
Tuchel also made a very good point about the potential impacts that the Covid-19 might have on those who tested positive.
Bear in mind, it took Kai Havertz quite a while to recover from it last season, although in his case, he unfortunately had rather bad symptoms.
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