Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel says he has no regrets about leaving striker Tammy Abraham out of his FA Cup Final squad.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel says he has nothing personal with Tammy Abraham despite what recent rumors and reports seem to have claimed.
Chelsea were allowed to name a 20-man squad for Saturday’s final defeat to Leicester City but despite being the club’s joint top scorer this season, there was no place for Abraham.
Unfortunately for the England international, it has become a common theme since Tuchel’s arrival.
Abraham was substituted at half-time in two of his first three starts for Tuchel back in late January and early February.
And despite scoring the only other time he was in the XI in-between those matches – during the FA Cup fifth-round win over Barnsley – the striker has not been handed a starting berth since February 20.
However, Tuchel warned that it was the kind of decision that could yet impact on other players and said: “It’s just about the amount of people that I can nominate for a game.” he said as per Sky Sports.
“I decided to start Timo Werner in the number nine role and we had Kai Havertz and Olivier Giroud on the bench. So we decided not to have three number nines on the bench. This is it, it’s never personal.
“When Kova (Mateo Kovacic) and Andreas Christensen, maybe, come back into the squad, I need to figure out the squad and maybe eliminate two more players.
“This is the worst day and worst decision for me in the whole week. Because since I arrived here everybody deserves to be in the squad. I understand his frustration and it was not the first time. We have other guys with the same situation to face.
“But this is not the moment to complain, and this is not the moment to explain too much. This is the moment just to live in the moment. These are the two decisive weeks now of the whole season.”
It remains to be seen what becomes of Abraham at Chelsea but some reports are already claiming he could be on his way out of the club.