Chelsea defender, Antonio Rudiger finally opened up about his scarce team selection in recent weeks despite the German being fully fit. After the 1-1 draw to West Ham United earlier this month, the 25-year-old told the media in the post-game press conference, “I think in the second half we can finish the game. But like the last few months, we didn’t and we concede. For me, it’s not easy to explain. I don’t understand why after 1-0 we always drop and let the opponent get more ball possession.”
This somehow ended up getting directed at the manager Antonio Conte, who ended up dropping the German for the 2-3 win over Southampton last weekend. When asked about the situation, Rudiger said, “Probably. But I didn’t mean it that way. It was a fact, it wasn’t about the tactics. I did not attack anyone personally, I meant us as a team.’
The centre-back also went on to assure everyone about the respect he holds for the Chelsea boss. “It’s just normal from my side. He’s my coach. I must respect him. And he’s a very, very good coach.”
Now Conte did term his decision to be simply a ‘tactical one’ but we are all aware of the way he operates. A simple toss-up with David Luiz back in September has now ruled the Brazilian to be an outcast from the Blues squad and is highly probably of ending up in a different side after this season.
Luiz was a regular starter last season and was crucial for Conte’s Premier League winning side. Very disciplined with his positioning and restricted from surging forward like he usually likes to do, Luiz did exactly what Andreas Christensen has been doing this season.
However, things took a different turn when the manager heaped criticism over Luiz after the 3-0 loss to AS Roma in the group stages of the Champions League. The Italian singled out the former Paris Saint-Germain defender and that led to a fall out between the two. Eventually,
Luiz saw himself get banished from the training session ahead of the next-week matchup against Manchester United and only got to witness the 1-0 win from the stands of Stamford Bridge.
After that Luiz featured in only two Premier League games and ever since have been blacklisted from the squad also due to reasons of a malleolar injury. With his contract set to run for another season, Chelsea might just sell him in the next summer window and can the similar treatment be expected for Rudiger?
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It is uncertain at the moment as Conte’s future itself is up in the clouds. Maybe the German will have to see out the remainder of the season and wait for a new face to charge.
