Why Reece James, Thiago, Havertz, Sterling and Mudryk were dropped
The Pride of London detail the reason why Chelsea stars including Reece James didn’t feature against Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday.
Before we begin the article, PoL would just like to quickly send our best wishes to CFC captain Cesar Azpilicueta. The fullback suffered a nasty injury in the Saints clash at the weekend.
‘Azpi’, an undoubtedly loyal Blue, was stretchered off after a kick to the head prior to the final whistle. The defender was taken to hospital. However, thankfully he is conscious and thanked those looking after him.
Chelsea ultimately lost the match particularly poorly. Questions were also asked over the absence of Reece James, Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk from the starting lineup. Blues head coach Graham Potter ‘was told’ that the group risked ‘significant injury if they started versus Southampton’. Mudryk, Sterling and Havertz all featured as substitutes.
Related Story. 3 Things Potter got wrong in Chelsea 0-1 Southampton. light
A future for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Chelsea?
Aubameyang is a mercurial and polarising footballer: the talent is there but he seems eternally preoccupied. When he has been on form during his Premier League career, some of his better and reliable finishes were akin to eminent strikers’ goals over the division’s history. When the Gabon international is off his game, he is regrettably a waste of space.
Blues supporters have seen the absolute minimum of positive Aubameyang, and hardly none of his renowned goalscoring exploits. He was being selected, but in recent months the former Arsenal man has completely fallen out of favour with CFC boss, Potter. Then the centreforward was left out of the Champions League squad; the decision was kind of understandably to some, while entirely explainable to the majority of observers.
Since not making the cut, ‘Auba’ has apparently taken the ruling well, according to his gaffer. Although, even if the player did throw a tantrum or cause havoc in true All or Nothing-style, (t)his superior probably wouldn’t alert the media.
Next. This is when Graham Potter is more likely to be sacked at Chelsea. dark
Following the breakdown, rejection or misreporting of Aubameyang’s supposed transfer to United side Los Angeles FC, people are wondering if we’ll ever see him in a Chelsea shirt again. Well, Potter claims that the 33-year-old remains an ‘important player’. The ex-Brighton & Hove Albion chief also said that ‘nothing is set in stone‘, and that an ‘assessment’ will be made on the forward in the near future.