Thomas Tuchel has revealed that there was no new injury to Tammy Abraham ahead of Chelsea’s clash with West Brom on Saturday – the striker was simply not selected for the match day squad.
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Abraham had been out since the end of February with an ankle problem but he passed a fitness test and was played when the Blues hosted Sam Allardyce’s team at Stamford Bridge. But many assumed that his injury had flared up again when there was no place for him in the starting lineup or on the bench.
It was Timo Werner who had the task of leading the line and it started bright when Christian Pulisic opened the scoring in the first half. But after Thiago Silva was sent off, everything went in the pot and Chelsea fell to a 5-2 defeat – their first loss under Tuchel.
Over a quarter of West Brom’s Premier League away goals this season have been scored today against Chelsea! pic.twitter.com/0tBDXecV01
– 90min (@ 90min_Football) April 3, 2021
When asked about Abraham, the commander said: “He was not in the troop. I have to nominate 18 players. There are tough choices to make. We make the choice of what the game requires, of what we predict, of the exchanges we have.
“In the end, we have to choose 18 players for more or less 20 positions. So we have to leave three players out and Tammy was one of the three players.
“It’s nothing personal or nothing big. He has the same chance to play every third day as everyone else. ”
After seeing his side fall to a humble defeat from the sides, it is likely that Abraham will have the chance to be with him sometime in the coming week. Tuchel’s side travel to Sevilla to face Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday before making a short trip across London to Crystal Palace in Saturday night’s start.
The schedule does not get easier from there; their second quarter-final with Porto then immediately precedes an FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City, so it may be a few weeks that define Tuchel’s hopes of finishing silver in his debut season in England.
