One of Chelsea’s biggest problems just now is the size of the squad as it usually means that very good players are going to miss out on playing.
It’s been interesting to see Thomas Tuchel’s approach to managing that, as it would’ve been easy to settle on a starting XI that he likes before banishing the rest and trying to force them out in the summer.
Instead he’s made a point of trying to give everyone a chance to impress and you do get the impression that players will only keep their place if they play as well as they can, so that competition should push them all to a higher level.
Hakim Ziyech has had his injury issues this season and he was an unused sub in the Chelsea last two games, but it sounds like Tuchel is going to give him a chance to impress tomorrow night against Barnsley:
Thomas Tuchel confirms Hakim Ziyech will feature tomorrow.
“He has the quality to decide matches and the qualities to do the unexpected.” https://t.co/ZEDN5J2s0a
— Adam Newson (@AdamNewson) February 10, 2021
In his comments Tuchel also spoke about how he wants to see the best out of Ziyech and he needs to show the same quality as he demonstrates in training so he clearly believes in him, but he’s also laying down a challenge for the Moroccan to prove that he deserves a chance to start more regularly.