THOMAS TUCHEL has told Tammy Abraham there is no easy way back into the Chelsea team.
The club’s 12-goal top scorer has struggled with an ankle injury but is yet to feature in a match since being passed fit for frontline duty again.
And Blues boss Tuchel reckons it would be foolish and damaging for morale to break up a winning team — even if his Chelsea forwards are struggling to score goals at present.
Tuchel, who replaced Frank Lampard on January 26, said: “I don’t think he’s the top scorer since I arrived. So I can only judge what I see and what we have together from the first minute when I arrived.
“I have seen a bright young man in front of me. A guy who is self-confident, who has a lot of talent.
“But it cannot be that in a period of such good results that suddenly the guys who don’t play are the winners.
“This cannot be. Because first of all, you need to be in the squad and if you are in a winning squad, you have your part in this winning squad.
“And it cannot be that sometimes the people who don’t make it to the squad are in the end the winners, although the team is winning many games. This is not logical to me.
“We are aware that he scored, we are aware that he scored a lot in the cup.
“We had some tactical changes he had to accept. We accept that he was injured. OK, so now it’s a difficult time to try things out because while he is injured the engine keeps on running.”
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The Chelsea boss added: “I’ve got to do what I believe is best for Chelsea. Tammy has had a rough time. He started twice or three times and substituted for tactical reasons at half-time.
“He’s not had the impact we wish and demand from him. He then got injured, lost the connection and possibility to play for his place the squad.
“It’s up to Tammy to do everything possible. We have 22 players on the pitch and it’s very hard to select 18 for Premier League matches.
“In the offensive position it’s possible to have a huge impact in small minutes. We demand a lot of Tammy, he demands a lot of himself.”
Tuchel previously declared that he does not care a jot about his players’ international ambitions, with Euro 2020 just two months off.
Abraham, 23, has not played since mid-February and Chelsea have lost only once in the nine games after that.
His 12 goals still makes him the team’s highest scorer this season — but only six have come in the Premier League.
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Tuchel said: “That’s the situation and it’s a pretty normal situation.
“I feel Tammy is totally hungry to turn things around.
“If you are the number nine and the number nine is on his shirt, then you put a lot on your shoulders. Well, sometimes the momentum can also change in just a few minutes.”
Abraham has found the net just once under his new manager — in the 1-0 win over Barnsley in the FA Cup.
Tuchel admitted: “He suffers from the circumstances and maybe it’s not his fault, I can understand, if you just look at the data, you will say OK he’s the top scorer.
“If you look at the data since we are here, then it will maybe also tell you a different story.”
Abraham’s team-mate Mason Mount is on a massive high after scoring his first Champions League goal in midweek.
Tuchel said: “With Mason, I have a feeling he is very down to Earth and that he can handle it. Good games or bad games will not change him at all.
“He is well aware of what took him here and what makes him strong as a player and as a person.
“He is very mature and at the same time has this young player’s sparkle in his eyes. He is low maintenance.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
