“I want him always on the pitch” – Tuchel reveals Chelsea player is un-droppable
It is another huge week for Chelsea and one that could set them up for an exciting end to the season.
Having beat West Ham at the weekend they are in a great position now to seal their top four position in the Premier League at the end of this season.
Now they have a chance to get into the Champions League final over two legs against Real Madrid, with the first game tomorrow night.
One player who you can be almost entirely sure that he will be on the pitch is club captain Cesar Azpilicueta.
Thomas Tuchel says that he always wants his captain to be on the pitch, and he proved that by putting him at right wing back at the weekend just to keep him there.
‘He is everything Chelsea means’, is how Tuchel described him on the Chelsea website this week, which really is top plaudits from the coach.
“He’s fantastic and I want him absolutely to be on the pitch because he’s a fantastic captain and a fantastic sportsman,’ he continued.
“He is everything Chelsea means in my point of view – he’s humble, he’s a fighter, he thinks constantly about winning and he does everything to be in shape every three days. He’s a true professional and there is no work too hard or distance too long for him.
“We used him as a wing-back and it was a bit hard because he had to do several long runs. It was a bit different for him but we chose the back three with Andreas, Toni and Thiago because we knew about West Ham’s strength in set-pieces and we wanted to gain some centimetres in height.
“Azpi is totally open to anything once he sees the reason why. He was very excited to be involved a bit more offensively and it’s nice to have this. The two positions [wing-back and full-back] suit him very well and he’s absolutely reliable.”