Chilwell’s Chelsea stint
Ben Chilwell would end 2020/21 as Chelsea’s main left-wing-back under Thomas Tuchel.
The defender did lose his place somewhat when Tuchel first arrived, but he quickly became the German’s go-to man, especially in the big games.
Chilwell would start in all of Chelsea’s Champions League clashes from the quarter-final onwards as the Blues earned their 2nd-ever CL trophy.
So, many were likely expecting to see Chilwell maintain his starting berth in 2021/22.
Tuchel on Chilwell
However, that has not been the case so far. In fact, Chilwell has not made it off the bench in any of Chelsea’s four games so far this term.
Instead, Marcos Alonso has been Tuchel’s go-to man so far in this campaign. And, to the Spaniard’s credit, he has looked pretty impressive.
Now though, Tuchel has moved to explain why Chilwell has not featured for Chelsea yet in 2021/22.
When doing so, the German pointed to the fact that Alonso already had five weeks of pre-season in his legs when Chilwell returned from the Euros so the Spaniard was much more ready than Chilwell.
Tuchel also pointed to the fact that Chelsea now only have three subs to use this season, seeming to suggest we could have seen more from Chilwell if there was still five allowed:
“For Ben Chilwell, it’s very easy. He came back with the latest group [after the Euros and holiday].
“When he arrived Marcos Alonso had five weeks in his legs from pre-season. He played the first competitive matches after a fantastic pre-season. He was simply way more ready physically which was natural because of the training session and his fantastic games.
“He played the Super Cup final and three Premier League games. Also, we only have three substitutions allowed and this is a huge problem.
“Chilly needed his time in training to adapt to the intensity. He is ready now but now wasn’t the time to push him into the cold water.
“It is a bit sad because you have more tactical opportunities if you have five changes. I don’t understand the arguments of the little teams that they have a disadvantage in this case. I was also a coach of a little team and I would have loved to have five players available.
“I would have made them run 16 kilometres against the top teams. I think it is a huge disadvantage in general in Europe but why do I complain?”