Tuchel explains 'hard decision' to disregard Abraham against Man Utd

The Blues academy graduate was left out of the matchday squad for the first time after the managerial change at Stamford Bridge.

Thomas Tuchel says Tammy Abraham was dropped from the Chelsea squad to face Manchester United due to selection decisions.

Abraham has featured 30 times across all competitions for Chelsea this season and in 18 of those has he played right from the start.

With six goals to his name, he is the club’s top scorer in the Premier League. Despite that, the 23-year-old has been finding opportunities hard to come by of late.

The England international was afforded no minutes against Tottenham, Sheffield United, and against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last-16 first-leg clash.

To add to his woes, the academy graduate did not even make the bench for Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Manchester United.

It was reported that Abraham had an ankle problem which is why he was left out of the squad to face United, but Tuchel says there was just no place for him in the team.

“At the moment he is only struggling with my decision. We have a strong squad,” the Blues boss said post-match, via Goal.

“We have only Thiago Silva injured that means we have to make hard decisions. We can nominate 18 players, plus goalkeepers so it is clear.

“It was a hard decision. It was about judging the alternatives that we have and we opted for Olivier Giroud to begin, Timo Werner on the bench. We have Kai Havertz who can play as a number nine so there was no need to bring a fourth number nine to the pitch.

“Things are difficult for him. Things are not as easy as they should be for him in the moment and he will get full support. This was the decision.”