Thomas Tuchel believes that key Chelsea injuries are the real reason they will finish behind Liverpool and Manchester City this season.
It’s still not mathematically confirmed with five Premier League games left, but the reality is Chelsea are finishing quite a way behind the top two in the division.
The Blues sit third in the league table focused on getting over the line with another top-four finish.
Tuchel was speaking yesterday after his Chelsea side recorded a 1-1 draw away to Manchester United in the league.
He highlighted the excellent performance of right wing-back Reece James at Old Trafford, with a display that Gary Neville described as “absolutely outstanding”.
James has had injury problems throughout the course of this campaign, while Ben Chilwell’s long-term absence has been a big miss at left-wing-back.
Tuchel definitely feels injuries have dented his team’s chances of matching the teams above them in the league.
“When I see the way Reece James played and know we missed him for 12 weeks, then I’m very impressed we are still in the top three, so close to another Champions League semi-final, and in two cup finals. You saw the quality that was missing,” Tuchel said last night.
“Today Mateo Kovacic was missing, same with Ben Chilwell, and this is the story of this season. The big difference is Man City and Liverpool have full squads available, and we have struggled through the season, Covid period, long-term injuries, and this is more decisive than anything.”
James absence was massive
Chelsea star James showed against Man United just how influential he is to the starting line-up.
It’s really frustrating that he’s only made 21 league appearances this season out of a possible 33 games due to various injury problems.
The 22-year-old delivered the kind of performance yesterday at wing-back to show why every Chelsea supporter rates him so highly, as he absolutely dominated the entire right flank at Old Trafford.
Paul Merson said James, along with Chilwell, were absolutely flying earlier in the season.
It would’ve been a tall order keeping pace with Man City and Liverpool, something that is perhaps out of reach right now. However, they’d definitely have had a better chance with a fully fit James all year.
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