Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has defended his choice to leave Tammy Abraham out of the side, explaining that it is illogical to play someone based on their previous exploits for the club.
The England striker is the club's top scorer this campaign with 12 goals, but has spent a large part of Tuchel's tenure on the sidelines with an ankle injury. The 23-year old has managed just 123 minutes of Premier League football since the German's arrival in January and has scored once - in a 1-0 FA Cup win over Barnsley.
Abraham was left on the bench in Chelsea's midweek Champions League win at Porto, and has even struggled to make the substitutes list at all on a number occasions recently. But, despite the Blues' somewhat lacklustre showings up top at times, the Guardian reports that Tuchel maintains he has done the right thing by leaving Abraham out of the squad of late.
"I don’t think he’s the top scorer since I arrived,” Tuchel said. “I can only judge what I see. I saw a guy who is self-confident, who has a lot of talent. But it cannot be that in a period of such good results that suddenly the guys who don’t play are the winners.
"This is not logical to me. He was for some weeks not available, so is it now the moment to do crazy stuff and try things? If you just look at the data, you will say: ‘OK, he’s the top scorer.’ If you look at the data since we are here, it will maybe tell you a different story.”
The German also added that he is not in the job to to fulfil individual players' goals on the international scene.
"I can’t make my decisions based on the personal goals of my players,” he stated. “Kepa [Arrizabalaga] also has the personal goal to go with Spain. It’s good they have these goals but it never influences my decisions. I’m the coach for Chelsea and I have to do what is good for us.
Abraham's lack of game time has put his place in England's EURO 2020 squad in serious doubt, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ollie Watkins and Patrick Bamford all gunning to be included next to Harry Kane.
And, as a result, the Chelsea striker's future is uncertain, with a summer move well on the cards.
Source : 90min