Chelsea played their second pre-season on Thursday morning. The blues were without four of their first team players. Cesar Azpilicueta, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Ross Barkley, and Timo Werner were involved in Chelsea’s first game against Club America.
Timo Werner was impressive in Chelsea’s first games and scored Chelsea’s first goal in the game against Club America.
The blues were defeated by Charlotte Fc on a penalty shoot-out. Christian Pulisic scored his goal on pre-season to Chelsea the lead in the first half. Charlotte Fc equalized in the injury time of the game when the MLS side was awarded a penalty following Trevoh Chalobah’s handball.
Daniel Rios converted the penalty to push the game to an extra penalty where Charlotte Fc won 5-3 following Conor Gallagher’s miss.
What did Thomas Tuchel say?
Speaking to a reporter after the game, Thomas Tuchel said: “Timo had some hamstring problems so we didn’t take the risk with him tonight.
“Kepa has had some pain that was disturbing him to feel free in the movements, nothing too much but we didn’t take the risk.
“Azpi took a big knock above his knee on his muscle in training.
He ran into Edou [Mendy] in an accident and is in some discomfort but if it was a Premier League match then I think we would have taken the risk. We just felt that today it was not worth it in case he did any further damage and is out for another three or four days.
“Ross has felt his hamstring for a few days now, the same as Timo. It’s more of a discomfort than an injury but like the others, we didn’t think there was any need to take a risk at this stage of pre-season.”
Meanwhile, Glen Johnson has urged Thomas Tuchel to replace Romelu Lukaku with Armando Broja.
Chelsea loaned Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan after The Belgian international failed to leave up to expectations following his record £ 101 million move to Chelsea last summer.
However, former England international Glen Johnson has urged Thomas Tuchel to replace the Chelsea loanee with Armando Broja. The Albanian striker impressed whilst on loan at Southampton.
Thomas Tuchel has already hinted that Armando Broja will play a major role for Chelsea this season. He has also reiterated the fact that the 20-year-old striker is not for sale following West Ham United’s £ 30 million bid.
Glen Johnson via GGRecon: “I think Chelsea are going to be reluctant to spend scary money again considering what happened with the Romelu Lukaku signing.
“If it was up to me, then I’d give Armando Broja a chance rather than spending £80m on a replacement.
“I’d rather get it wrong with a player that I’ve already got, rather than get it wrong by spending £80m. Broja is technically good in front of goal but I don’t know how good he is yet.
“He did score some fantastic goals for Southampton but, let’s face it, Southampton isn’t Chelsea. He’s going to get more goal-scoring opportunities at Chelsea and he’s technically good enough to score more next season.
