https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/09/10/
tuchel-excited-by-saul-addition-and-attacking-possibilities
Tuchel excited by Saul addition and attacking possibilities
10 Sep 2021
Saul could make his Chelsea debut tomorrow and ahead of that fixture
against Aston Villa Thomas Tuchel explained why he was so keen to bring
the midfielder to Chelsea.
https://i.imgur.com/sfzb1iu.jpg
Following a week off for the international break, the Premier League
returns as we host Villa at Stamford Bridge late on Saturday afternoon in
our first match since the closing of the transfer window, meaning it could
be the first opportunity for Blues supporters to see our newest signing in
action for the club.
Saul joined Chelsea from Atletico Madrid on transfer deadline day,
initially on loan, with the possibility to make the move permanent at the
end of the season.
Ahead of that potential debut, our head coach discussed the reasons he was
keen to add to his midfield options by signing Saul alongside Jorginho,
N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic, and why he feels the Spaniard will be
such a good fit with those new team-mates.
'We agreed for Billy Gilmour to go to Norwich to have more minutes on the
highest level and he was our fourth midfielder last season,' explained
Tuchel. 'Now, with the Covid situation and after the Euros and the Copa
America, I personally was a bit concerned to go into the season with only
Mateo, Jorginho and N'Golo.
'That was not because of a lack of quality or character, I am the happiest
coach that I can be to have these three guys, but in terms of it is a
little bit unpredictable. We have a Club World Cup to play in December,
there are many games to come and nobody knows exactly what will happen.
Most of the time two of the three guys always play. Once you have one
injured, once you have one suspended, you are already in danger of
overloading the players.
https://i.imgur.com/ypjIe0X.jpg
Saul trains with his new team-mates at Cobham
'So we were looking, but not desperately, for alternatives and Saul was on
the radar for Chelsea for many years. I know the player since many years,
I was fighting at some other clubs for the player but it was never
possible. So when the situation was at the very end that it is possible to
have a loan we were excited about it.
'I think he's exactly the type of profile we need to give Jorginho and
N'Golo sometimes the break that they need. He is a good fit to play with
Mateo, Jorgi and N'Golo. He is a very strategic player, has good passing
ability, he has a lot of volume and comes from a tough club. I think he is
a good fit and that's why I'm absolutely happy. We do not have the biggest
squad in terms of numbers, but we have a strong squad in terms of quality
and character and I'm very happy that Saul is now a big part of it.'
It is not just in midfield that Tuchel's squad is full of quality, of
course. In attack, Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner both impressed during the
recent international break, scoring three goals apiece for their
respective countries.
We are yet to see those two players operating in tandem from the start,
with Werner beginning our last two games on the bench, but our head coach
reacted positively to suggestions the two could form a good strike
partnership at Chelsea.
'I am sure that we will find games and solutions where we play with both
of them,' said Tuchel. 'We did already play with double strikers and Timo
and Romelu can be a good fit together. Timo loves to play around a
reference up front and Romelu is clearly our reference up front if he
plays alongside another striker, being a tall and physical player.
'The most important thing is that Timo finds his rhythm, his confidence
and his joy and makes his point and makes his way into the team. The
players are in charge to fight for their position and once they have it to
not give it away. We are very happy that he scored, we are very happy that
he played.
https://i.imgur.com/JxmY7C8.jpg
Werner scored in all three of Germany's games over the international break
'We have a squad where we are not too many players but we have players
with high quality and high ambition and Timo is clearly a guy that we
count on and it is absolutely necessary that we have him on a high level
and he can be decisive for us.'