Jermaine Jenas strongly praised Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek for his weekend performance in the FA Cup, even suggesting he could make a late run for the England squad before the World Cup this winter.
Chelsea avoided an upset on Saturday evening by sweeping aside Championship club Middlesbrough 2-0 away from home.
Romelu Lukaku, who was back in the starting XI, opened the scoring inside 15 minutes with a close-range finish. Afterwards, Hakim Ziyech’s left-footed strike from outside the box was drilled into the far bottom corner.
For the Blues, they are now in the FA Cup semi-final to add to their great record in cup competitions under manager Thomas Tuchel.
BBC pundit Jenas, who was commentating on the cup tie, loved what he was watching from Loftus-Cheek.
The 26-year-old returned to the side in the centre of the park and bossed things from the base of midfield.
“He’s been good today, Loftus-Cheek. I’ve enjoyed watching him in this role,” Jenas said on BBC One (6:55pm, 19 March).
“Sometimes during his loan spells he’s played a lot higher up the pitch, but I think I like him in this deeper role. He has composure on the ball. He’s helped run the game well from that midfield position.”
After a fellow commentator pointed out Loftus-Cheek was part of England’s squad in the 2018 World Cup, Jenas responded by suggesting he could be an outside bet for the Qatar World Cup at the end of 2022.
“It wouldn’t surprise me to see him have a late run for the next one (World Cup) as well. I think this Chelsea midfield could look very different next year,” he added.
England call-up still long way off
In fairness, even the biggest Loftus-Cheek supporter must concede a return to Gareth Southgate’s England squad is still a way off.
He’s fourth-choice in the midfield pecking order at Stamford Bridge, albeit there is absolutely no shame being behind Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and Jorginho.
He’s earned 10 senior caps for England in the past, so a return to the national side isn’t impossible.
However, surely he needs more starts for his club to break into Southgate’s plans again.
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