“His wife leaving really made Tuchel lose his mind”, “I sign out peacefully” – Chelsea fans give up hope as 22-year-old is named in playing XI against Leicester
Chelsea fans have been left dismayed by Thomas Tuchel's decision to start Conor Gallagher in midfield for their Premier League clash against Leicester City.
The Blues are aiming to bounce back from their disastrous performance against Leeds United last weekend at Elland Road, where they were thrashed 3-0.
Tuchel will see a clash at home to Leicester as an ideal opportunity to get their season back on track. They have only lost to the Foxes once at Stamford Bridge since 2001. Brendan Rodgers' side sit second bottom of the Premier League table, having picked up just one point so far.
Ready to take to the pitch! 🔵
@ParimatchGlobal | #CheLei https://t.co/0ppB84GKri
The German boss has made just one change from the side that lost to Leeds, with the suspended Kalidou Koulibaly being replaced by Trevoh Chalobah. That means another opportunity for Gallagher, who is set to make his first home start at Stamford Bridge.
The English midfielder endured a difficult full Chelsea debut last weekend as he was given a runaround by the opposition midfield.
Gallagher, 22, has established himself as one of the most promising midfielders in English football. In the last two seasons, he had incredibly successful loan spells at West Brom and Crystal Palace respectively.
However, Chelsea fans appear to be unconvinced by the young midfielder in Tuchel's system. They took to Twitter to express their disappointment at his selection:
@ChelseaFC @ParimatchGlobal Is Tuchel blind to see that Gallagher can’t play beside Jorginho. He can’t play in double pivot
@ChelseaFC @ParimatchGlobal Both Gallagher and Chalobah starting? Nah man his wife leaving, really made Tuchel lose his mind 😭😭😭😭
@ChelseaFC @ParimatchGlobal Gallagher https://t.co/JLy2YiRxTz
@ChelseaFC @ParimatchGlobal Gallagher Out
gallagher two weeks in a row twitter.com/chelseafc/stat… https://t.co/b7fk6SxAKd
Gallagher in the pivot again, this manager don’t learn… twitter.com/chelseafc/stat…
Tuchel still used Jorginho x Gallagher pivot. I sign out peacefully. twitter.com/chelseafc/stat…
Conor Gallagher linked with move away from Chelsea this summer
The England international has been given another chance by Tuchel for the Leicester clash. However, with Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante soon coming back to fitness, Gallagher may soon find his opportunities limited in central midfield.
According to Football.London, Newcastle United are one of a number of sides reportedly interested in signing the tenacious midfielder. While on the club's pre-season tour, Tuchel was full of praise for Gallagher following Chelsea's 2-1 win over Club America. He explained:
"It was a very good start and a good match for him. Now it's important he gets used to our principles of the game, to understand when to move and when not to move, and his work-rate is outstanding. He can be a big asset for us."
He added:
"Conor trains at a really high level. You can clearly see it was the right decision to let him go on loan. He made a huge step in his development at Palace and became an England player."
Gallagher will be desperate for regular first-team football this season, with the FIFA World Cup coming up later this year.
Don't get why anyone would write off Conor Gallagher yet. Struggled vs Leeds, but he's adapting to his new teammates, manager and new system.
We wouldn't write off an expensive new signing after one game, so we shouldn't write off one of our brightest academy products. Patience. https://t.co/KAwue0YyhS