Chelsea had two games left before tonight and needed just one point to secure 3rd place.
Given there wasn’t that much to play for, and fans have been crying out all year to see some young talent, there was a great hope that Thomas Tuchel would blend some youth into the mix.
We saw brilliant cameos from the likes of Lewis Hall and Jude Soonsup-Bell when we were ravaged by injury, and we thought they might have a chance of some minutes tonight.
But Tuchel picked a full strength team, and when he was asked why, he pointed out that until 3rd was secure, his priority was to get results and not to mess around.
“Finishing third would reflect what we’ve built and what we deserve, so it’s on us to take it. Nobody will give it to us, we have to take it,” the manager was quoted as saying on SI.com.
“Even if you maybe feel a bit more relaxed before a game it does not mean that you cannot be switched on and totally focused when the whistle goes. That’s the challenge for today.”
We still would have liked to see some kids – maybe off the bench – but this is the demanding environment we’ve created at Chelsea that serves us well. Managers don’t feel they can take their foot off the accelerator for even one game, and that can only be a good thing in the end.
