Chelsea were 1-0 up against Burnley when half time arrived, but despite having the lead the Blues made a change at the break.
Tammy Abraham, who was making his first start under Thomas Tuchel, was withdrawn, replaced by winger Christian Pulisic.
Some speculated that the striker was injured – which seems to be the natural assumption. But others considered a tactical element – maybe the new manager wanted to see Timo Werner playing up front as a striker, rather than out wide where he’d spent the first half.
Certainly the arrival of a new coach means a blank slate for everyone – just look at Marcos Alonso at left back – but we still don’t think it’s that likely Tuchel would just dump Tammy after 45 minutes, no matter what he thought of his performance.
The painful part is the crosses that have flashed in front of goal in the second half so far – Tammy would have scored, as one poster on Twitter pointed out.
You can see some of the speculation about the reasons for the sub in the posts embedded here:
https://twitter.com/fmulla3x/status/1355869990776434692
https://twitter.com/katsarfr/status/1355870399410671617
Tammy Abraham: pic.twitter.com/wJXqtoolGp
— Antonio (@toni_denkovski) January 31, 2021
Tammy Abraham will not improve. Shouldn't be starting.
— TJ (@s3duire) January 31, 2021
Tammy Abraham out for Christian Pulisic.
— Kwame Benaiah (@kwamebenaiah) January 31, 2021
https://twitter.com/prolifsinclair/status/1355864129127538690
Tammy Abraham hooked
— ⚡️⚡️ (@its_me_axad) January 31, 2021
https://twitter.com/DexterSlide/status/1355864364855795716
Tammy Abraham off at HT, me love this coach already
— 🪫. (@Raycharlesx95) January 31, 2021
I like Thomas Tuchel already 🤣🤣 taking out Tammy Abraham was a boss move 😁
— 🇬🇭 CleDre 🇯🇵 (@Aboki_CleDre) January 31, 2021
https://twitter.com/fmulla3x/status/1355867926553911297
Chelsea play much more fluid without Tammy Abraham in the game
— SKFC (@ssj_seunk) January 31, 2021
Tammy Abraham be complete waste
— Niklaus👑 (@hbduah) January 31, 2021