Chelsea will kick off at home against Crystal Palace in about two hours. The starting lineup and available subs for the match will be made public in about an hour, and you can be pretty certain of at least two names that won’t be in the first team. Defender Danny Drinkwater and wing-back Victor Moses are two players who just don’t fit into manager Maurizio Sarri’s plan.
The Blues boss himself has said so, and it’s clear now that the duo’s long term future with the club is in jeopardy.
Drinkwater, who came over from Leicester City on the 2017 summer transfer window deadline day, doesn’t fit the new manager’s system, and the Italian made him aware of that fact several weeks ago.
Said Sarri: “I think the situation is that Drinkwater for me is not suitable for a midfield with two other midfielders. I told him two months ago what I think.”
As for Moses, he also doesn’t have a position in Sarri’s system.
“Moses is more suitable for playing wing-back than like a winger or a full-back, I think,” Sarri continued. “I don’t know (if they have a future with the club). They have to improve but their characteristics are a little bit different.”
Chelsea have used 26 players this season across all competitions; in Premier League play only 19. However, Sarri believes that will change once the fixture congestion of the festive period arrives. With many more opportunities for playing time opening up, the fringe players will certainly see have ample opportunity to see major minutes.
And of course, the longer Chelsea stays alive in more competitions, the more opportunities for playing time will arise.
“We have used 26 players in official matches this season so the rotation at the moment is this, but I don’t know in the future,” Sarri continued.
“If you look only in the Premier League the situation is that, you are right (only played 19 guys) but I have to look at all competitions: 90 minutes are 90 minutes.”
“You have to look at the League Cup, Europa League and the national team.”
“I have to look also to the minutes in the national teams. So I think the rotation is good. Every moment was done only between the Europa League, League Cup and Premier League but in the future it will be different. If you look at December and January, you need to change also in the Premier League because we will play every three days in the Premier League. So we need to change in the Premier League.”
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and even the team captain Gary Cahill, are among the Chelsea players who have found themselves on the fringes under Sarri, and thus have made it known that they want out of Stamford Bridge. Sarri has already previously explained why Loftus-Cheek doesn’t play.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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