‘He didn’t do that particularly well’: ESPN pundit says 26-year-old Chelsea player is defensively weak

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ESPN pundit Stewart Robson has criticised Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek for being defensively fragile.

Loftus-Cheek, 26, was part of the Blues side on Saturday that suffered a crushing 4-1 home defeat against Brentford in the Premier League.

The Englishman started as the deeper of his team’s three central midfielders, with Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante operating either side of him.

It’s a role in front of the defence that Chelsea’s Jorginho has mastered over several years of playing it.

In contrast, Loftus-Cheek has swapped recently from a box-to-box role into a deeper position in the midfield.

Robson claimed after the 26-year-old’s display against Brentford that there are obvious flaws in his defensive game, something that was exposed on the weekend.

“Loftus-Cheek, I don’t think has got a great defensive understanding. Loftus-Cheek was meant to be that holding player [against Brentford] to go in-between his centre-halves and provide that extra bit of cover. And he didn’t do that particularly well,” Robson told ESPN.

Loftus-Cheek development

In fairness, the fact Loftus-Cheek has made 28 appearances and counting this season will be a surprise to many.

He’s definitely a part of Tuchel’s plans and has found a role within the squad at Stamford Bridge, something that seemed unlikely after a difficult loan at Fulham last season.

His calmness and quality on the ball really shines through when collecting possession from deep. The flip side of that is the fact he’ll be learning defensive positions and timings on the job, though.

Tuchel clearly sees a lot in Chelsea’s academy graduate that he likes, but there’s still a lot of improvement needed to get near the best XI.

It won’t be a surprise to see a more senior option replace him in the starting line-up during Wednesday night’s Champions League game at home to Real Madrid.

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