2 years ago
Thomas Tuchel, according to Owen Hargreaves, can replace any player in his Chelsea team save two and still produce.
The Blues have had some injury issues in recent months, but they appear to have handled them well. After 11 games, Chelsea is currently three points ahead of second-placed Manchester City in the Premier League league, having the best defensive record and scoring the second-most goals.
Chelsea will be missing Mateo Kovacic and Ben Chilwell ahead of Manchester United's visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Due to a knee ailment, N'Golo Kante is also expected to miss out. Hargreaves, a former Manchester United midfielder, does not believe these absences will have a significant influence on Chelsea.
Tuchel depends heavily on only two Chelsea players, according to him: Edouard Mendy and Antonio Rudiger. "It's basically been shown that the manager and his mentality are more important than individual players [at Chelsea]," he told PL Productions' The Weekend Preview (via Optus Sport). "It makes no difference who comes in." Mendy obviously plays every game, and I believe Rudiger does as well, but there are so many more players who may come in and out.
"They did it without [Christian] Pulisic, [Romelu] Lukaku, and Mason Mount, and [Hakim] Ziyech has only played a few minutes."
"Anytime he [Tuchel] slides someone in, they're going to perform - that's a sign of a truly excellent coach."
Hargreaves had a valid argument. Rudiger and Mendy are the only two players in Chelsea's Premier League campaign who have played every minute.
In terms of minutes played, Jorginho ranks third and Thiago is fourth.
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