‘I was shocked he did that, absolutely nonsense’ – Martin Keown slams Chelsea player decision on Tuchel Chelsea
Martin Keown, a former Arsenal player, has expressed his amazement that Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen has opted out of the FA Cup final against Liverpool.
Keown is taken aback by Christensen’s actions and is waiting for the Dane international to explain himself.
Keown told talkSPORT: “We haven’t had his take on it but it does seem odd that he played in the Leeds game three days before in a back three,”
“And, of that back three, he was the only one that didn’t play in the cup final.
“So maybe he deduced that he wasn’t going to be picked – he was probably given an indication of that the day before the match when they do their run-throughs.
“And maybe he felt that he just couldn’t bear to be involved. I can think of another reason.”
And asked if he would have done the same as Christensen, Keown responded: “Why would I? I don’t know when the next cup final’s coming around.
“I’ve worked all my career to get to that stage – there’s absolutely no way I’m pulling out.
“When I was at Reading, and Steve Coppell (Keown’s manager at the time) can confirm this, I got injured and told them not to pay me my wages.
“I don’t want to pick up wages because it’s not right for you and them as a football club. They weren’t paying me a great deal so I could afford to do that.
“But you’ve either got principles or you haven’t, so you play the game when you can, which is on the way up.
“I left clubs when my contract finished so, on the way down, I made sure that I was honest.”