Tuchel justifies leaving Jorginho out of Chelsea starting XI vs Southampton

The Blues boss made a number of modifications to his team that lost out to Juventus earlier this week.

Thomas Tuchel has justified leaving Jorgingo out of the Chelsea starting XI to face Southampton saying the player has been “overused recently.”

Jorginho featured in each of Chelsea’s opening six Premier League games, starting in five and playing for almost all 90 minutes in four of them.

But the 29-year-old was dropped to the bench for Saturday’s league outing at Stamford Bridge, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek taking his place in the line-up.

Loftus-Cheek came off the bench in the Blues’ defeats against Manchester City as well as Juventus, and it appears he managed to impress his manager in the limited minutes offered.

“We’ve gone for Ruben in midfield instead of Jorgi because we’ve overused him recently,” Tuchel told before kick-off (via Sports Illustrated).

“He hasn’t had much of a pre-season and he’s played a lot of matches.

“Today we are facing a midfield that presses a lot, so we’ve gone for a midfielder with a bit more physicality in Ruben. Ruben also gives us the option to drive forward with the ball from midfield, he’s very good at travelling with the ball.”