Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has been urged to drop Andreas Christensen and heal his rift with out-of-favour defender David Luiz by pundit Garth Crooks.
The Italian tactician has largely favoured Danish youngster Christensen over Luiz this season, though Crooks believes it’s time for a change after another shaky performance by the player in the win over Crystal Palace.
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Chelsea were rather unconvincing as they beat Palace at the weekend, and Christensen was singled out by Crooks as someone who should make way.
The 21-year-old recently made a dreadful error in the Champions League draw with Barcelona as the Blues conceded a critical away goal to Lionel Messi.
Despite long being regarded as a top talent, it seems it may be time for Conte to ease the pressure on Christensen after making him a regular starter for a top club at such a young age.
For all Luiz’s flaws, Crooks believes it’s time for Conte to end his rift with the Brazilian and bring him back into the team.
‘Chelsea are all over the place at the moment. They can be brilliant one minute and shocking the next,’ Crooks told BBC Sport.
‘Against Crystal Palace they were somewhere in between the two. The brilliant was Willian and he has been since he took on Barcelona in the Champions League tie at Stamford Bridge recently.
‘The not so brilliant has been Andreas Christensen, who is clearly a talented defender but not in David Luiz’s class yet. Conte needs to heal that rift with Luiz.’