EXPOSED! Take A Look At The Reasons Chelsea Refused To Play Aubameyang Against FULHAM
Graham Potter has explained why he ignored Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during Thursday night’s 2-1 Premier League loss for Chelsea against Fulham.
Potter clarified that the choice to keep Kai Havertz on the field rather than substitute in Aubameyang was a tactical one.
Before defender Kalidou Koulibaly tied the score for the Blues shortly after the break, former Chelsea star Willian had given Fulham the lead in the first half.
When Chelsea debutant Joao Felix was sent for a careless challenge on Kenny Tete, the Blues were then down to 10 men.
Carlos Vinicius scored the game-winning goal for Fulham in the 75th minute.
With 11 minutes left, Potter made four substitutions while keeping Aubameyang on the bench.
When questioned why he did not introduce the Gabonese during the game to aid Chelsea in their attempt to equalize, the former Brighton manager, Potter responded,
“We had a back five and felt we should go to a 4-4-1 and keep Kai on because I felt he was leading the line and winning challenges and duels.
“We wanted to use Hakim [Ziyech] and Carney [Chukwuemeka] to break from wide and Conor [Gallagher] to break from the centre because you know you’re going to get driven back a bit. So that was the thinking.”With the loss, Chelsea dropped to 10th position overall in the Premier League, 10 points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, who still have a game remaining.
So sad