Chelsea fans will love what Tuchel said about Mendy's Ballon d'Or snub

Speaking after Edouard Mendy’s heroics against Brentford, Thomas Tuchel spoke about the Chelsea goalkeeper’s surprise Ballon d’Or snub.

Thomas Tuchel has claimed Chelsea should’ve had 21 players on the Ballon d’Or shortlist in response to Edouard Mendy’s omission.

Despite his starring role in the Blues’ Champions League success last season, Mendy wasn’t nominated for the Ballon d’Or. In fact, Gianluigi Donnarumma was the only goalkeeper on the 30-man shortlist.

France Football’s decision left the 29-year-old’s Senegal teammates Sadio Mane and Kalidou Koulibaly unimpressed. Even Antonio Rudiger was left stunned, especially after the goalkeeper gave fans a reminder of his quality with a match-winning performance against Brentford on Sunday.

Someone explain why he’s not nominated for the ballon d’or 🤔🤔🤔 What a performance… EDOUARD MENDY 💪🏾

— Antonio Rüdiger (@ToniRuediger) October 16, 2021

But speaking to the press after Chelsea’s 1-0 win, Tuchel pointed out that more of his players should’ve got recognition.

“I think that we could be on that list as a whole team because we won that trophy as a team,” said the Blues boss as quoted by Football London.

“If we have five names or six names, I have the feeling we won it as 21 guys and everybody played his role. That’s how football works.”

Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, and Romelu Lukaku are the five Blues players in contention for the 2021 Ballon d’Or award.

Edouard Mendy made 6 saves vs. Brentford, 5 from shots taken inside the penalty area.

He has more clean sheets [4] than goals against [3] in the league so far this season. 🧤 pic.twitter.com/n8VhSdmcXX

— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) October 16, 2021

To his credit, Mendy didn’t let France Football’s snub affect him. The Senegal international pulled off some world-class saves at Brentford to help Chelsea claim a hard-fought 1-0 win. The result restored the club at the top of the Premier League table.

Tuchel added: “I’m happy and it is more important that he performs like this than he is on any list. It should not, and I hope it does not, bother him because it does not bother me too much and it seems like he is not influenced by that, which is a good thing.

“Today we relied heavily on him again. He is the guy he is and everybody is so happy for him that he can help us.”