THOMAS TUCHEL insists Tammy Abraham’s FA Cup final axe was nothing ‘personal’ after the star’s girlfriend slammed the Chelsea boss.
The striker was not even named on the bench as the Blues lost the showpiece 1-0 to Leicester at Wembley on Saturday.
Abraham, 23, has not featured much since Tuchel was appointed in January, casting doubt over his long-term future.
And after discovering her boyfriend’s latest snub, Leah Monroe took to Instagram to complain.
She wrote: “How on earth do you make the decision to leave your top goal scorer out of the squad for a final?
“The same person who even scored the goals to actually qualify for this competition? It’s not making any sense whatsoever.”
Tuchel faced the media today ahead of Tuesday’s crunch Premier League clash against the Foxes.
And when asked about Abraham, he said: “It’s just about the amount of people that I can nominate for a game.
“I decided to start Timo Werner in the number nine role and we had Kai Havertz and Olivier Giroud on the bench.
“So we decided not to have three number nines on the bench. This is it, it’s never personal.
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“When Kova (Mateo Kovacic) and Andreas Christensen, maybe, come back into the squad, I need to figure out the squad and maybe eliminate two more players.
“This is the worst day and worst decision for me in the whole week. Because since I arrived here everybody deserves to be in the squad.
“I understand his frustration and it was not the first time. We have other guys with the same situation to face.
“But this is not the moment to complain, and this is not the moment to explain too much. This is the moment just to live in the moment.
“These are the two decisive weeks now of the whole season.”
Abraham is still Chelsea’s joint-leading scorer in all competitions this season with 12 even though he has barely featured in Tuchel.
After tomorrow’s showdown with Leicester at Stamford Bridge, the West London club head to Aston Villa on Sunday looking to cement a place in the top four.
They will then switch their focus on to the Champions League as they prepare to face Manchester City in the final on May 29.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
