‘Fluffed his lines’: TalkSPORT pundit claims 26-year-old Chelsea player wasted his chance to impress Tuchel

Add as preferred source on Google

Trevor Sinclair feels like Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek wasted a golden opportunity to impress earlier in the week.

Loftus-Cheek, 26, started and played the full game during Wednesday night’s 4-2 defeat at home to Arsenal in the Premier League.

The English midfielder partnered N’Golo Kante in the centre of the park, with the pair both struggling to protect a back three that massively underperformed.

In fairness, Loftus-Cheek has played quite a lot of football this season. He’s featured in 33 games across all competitions so far this campaign, which is more than most would’ve predicted last summer.

He’s shown his versatility by dropping into a wing-back position to help out, but he’s always been a powerhouse central midfielder.

TalkSPORT pundit Sinclair wasn’t impressed by what he saw from him against Arsenal, suggesting he missed a chance to impress his manager Thomas Tuchel.

“Loftus-Cheek, I thought he played superbly well against Real Madrid. He played on the right as a wing-back, out of position, and I was like ‘brilliant’. He goes back into his proper position [against Arsenal] alongside Kante, this is your big opportunity. He fluffed his lines,” Sinclair said.

Uncertain future

It’s a very difficult job trying to predict what the future looks like for Loftus-Cheek.

His goal in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend against Crystal Palace had everyone talking about him again. However, he was unable to follow that up with a statement performance at home to Arsenal.

A problem with consistency has been his main struggle over the years, along with injury problems.

There’s clearly something there Tuchel likes due to his physical and technical qualities. How much longer can that keep him in the squad at Stamford Bridge for, though?

Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.