Thomas Tuchel has explained why he subbed off midfielder, Saul Niguez during Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Watford on Wednesday.
While insisting that the decision was for ‘tactical reasons’, the former Borussia Dortmund boss also hinted at converting the midfielder to a left-wing-back.
Saul made his only second Premier League start in the season at Vicarage Road on Wednesday since after joining the Blues on loan from Atletico Madrid in the summer.
Watford’s forward Emmanuel Dennis cancelled out Mason Mount’s opener for Chelsea in the first half only for substitute Hakim Ziyech to put the Blues in front again, making sure Thomas Tuchel’s men left Vicarage Road with all three points.
The Spain International struggled in the first half as Emmanuel Dennis cancelled out Mason Mount’s opener and was replaced by Thiago Silva at the interval.
Tuchel was asked about Saul’s substitution after the 2-1 win and he told the press, “I don’t know where he goes from this performance but he was on a yellow card so we had two options.
We could have taken Marcos [Alonso] off who also had a yellow card and try Saul as a wing-back.
“I had this in my mind before the game, if something happened to Marcos. But I thought maybe it was not the right match to try things with new positions so it was [subbing] him to change the shape a little bit and have Thiago on the pitch with his organising.
“Having Trevoh [Chalobah] on the number six who is more physical – unfortunately Trevoh injured himself and we ended up with Ruben on the single six. But it was a tactical decision.”
