Transfer News: Barcelona closing in on Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso.
Speaking after the FA Cup win against Barnsley (h/t Chelsea website), Thomas Tuchel provided an injury update on Andreas Christensen and revealed why he substituted Marcos Alonso.
The German boss made two changes at half time in the 5th-round FA Cup clash against Barnsley. Antonio Rudiger came on for Christensen, while English full-back Reece James replaced Alonso.
Tuchel says that Barnsley attacking Chelsea’s width made him switch to a back four instead of a back three. Despite the switch, the Blues had to do a fair bit of defending in the second half.
“I was not frustrated… Barnsley attacked our back three with their front three very aggressively so we decided to change to a back four.”
The former PSG boss clarified that Marcos Alonso was brought off for tactical reasons. However, Christensen was withdrawn due to a minor injury concern.
“We took Marcos [Alonso] out because of this tactical change and Andreas [Christensen] had to go out because he had a headache.”
There is noting as of now to indicate if Christensen’s headache will potentially be serious enough to sideline him for the next game. Christensen played the full 90 minutes in Chelsea’s win against Sheffield United.
That was only the second time he has played 90 minutes of league football for Chelsea in the past 3 months. For Alonso though, there seems to be no injury concern.
The Spaniard has had a new beginning under Tuchel. He has featured in all of Chelsea’s last 3 Premier League games after being banished from the starting XI by Frank Lampard for the majority of the season.
Chelsea’s next task is a home game against Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on Monday night. The Blues are yet to be beaten under their new boss and would be hoping to extend that run to six games next week.
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