Paul Merson is stunned that Ben Chilwell was left out of Chelsea’s recent starting line-up at the weekend.
Mauricio Pochettino, who’s enduring a challenging start to life as the Blues head coach, watched his side draw 0-0 away to Bournemouth on Sunday.
A big talking point came when Pochettino snubbed Ben Chilwell from the starting XI.
The £45million (BBC) England international was used as a late substitute in the Bournemouth draw, but it was a surprise to see the vice-captain left out of the original team.
Sky Sports pundit Merson was shocked that Chilwell was dropped in the most recent Chelsea fixture.
“I didn’t get Mykhailo Mudryk starting against Bournemouth. I didn’t get Ben Chilwell not starting – for me you’ve got to go for him in my opinion,” Merson told Sky Sports.
There’s been a lot of discussions regarding Chilwell’s position at the start of the season. His recent axe from the starting line-up only adds to the mystery around him, too.
The 26-year-old has proven in recent years he can be one of the Premier League’s very top left-backs when he’s fit and firing. However, Pochettino has favoured him higher up the pitch as a left-winger to start the season, which is an experiment that hasn’t worked out too well.
It’s a no-brainer for us to bring Chilwell back into the side this Sunday against Aston Villa. This needs to be his natural full-back role, though.
Hopefully, Levi Colwill slides across to centre-back and vacates the left-back position for Chilwell, the best option at the club.
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