Xabi Alonso wasn’t too pleased with Brazil revealing João Pedro’s injury (which may or may not be trivial in length and significance), and now the Chelsea manager’s efforts to keep everyone in the dark about injuries have taken another big hit, with England confirming an injury to Reece James.
Thomas Tuchel has called on both Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers — as well as ex-Chelsea boys Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Guéhi, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento (and Rio Ngumoha and Declan Rice) — but he’s been forced to leave
his personal favorite, “Reecey” at home.
“A lot of members of our World Cup squad — Reece [James], Dan [Burn], Dean [Henderson], [John] Stones, [Jordan] Henderson, Djed Spence — can’t be with us due to injuries.”
-Thomas Tuchel; source: BBC
James’s absence is certainly a blow for Tuchel, but it’s most definitely a blow for us, with our midfield options dwindling even further. While the Chelsea captain isn’t necessarily the best option in midfield, he’s been deputizing there alongside fellow right Malo Gusto as Alonso tries to make up for the absence of Moisés Caicedo (and the last-minute departure of Enzo Fernández).
So I guess we’ll see what the manager has up his sleeve tonight!
