Reece James and Kurt Zouma did not play against Aston Villa. (GETTY Images)
Speaking in the post-match interview (h/t Metro), Frank Lampard explained why he had to bench Chelsea trio Thiago Silva, Reece James, and Kurt Zouma in the draw against Aston Villa.
Lampard made 6 changes to the Chelsea squad that lost 3-1 to Arsenal. This saw Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen coming in to replace Kurt Zouma and Thiago Silva.
The Blues boss explained that he had to bench the duo as they had been playing too many games recently. He wanted to give Chelsea’s defensive mainstays some much-needed rest.
“Thiago Silva, I think at his age I had to consider the games. Kurt Zouma’s played a lot of games himself.”
Chelsea also saw Olivier Giroud come in for Tammy Abraham. The manager explained that both the strikers give a “similar output” so they get a “game each”. (h/t Metro)
In addition to that, young right-back Reece James was also missing from the squad. Lampard explained the 21-year-old has a hamstring issue and even if he didn’t, Cesar Azpilicueta would have played anyway.
“Reece James has got a small hamstring issue, not saying that’s why Azpi played.”
The English manager’s changes seemed to be working when Olivier Giroud scored in the 34th minute to put Chelsea 1-0 up. However, a defensive mix-up in the second half saw Anwar El-Ghazi score the game’s last goal.
Despite the poor result, it will be harsh to point fingers at the manager for making the changes. The Premier League schedule has been unforgiving, especially to Chelsea.
The Blues only had 48 hours of rest between their league matches against Arsenal and Aston Villa. The 1-1 draw saw us rise to 6th place in the table, albeit temporarily.
The Blues have just one win in their last 6 games in all competitions, and the task only gets tougher this weekend as Chelsea face Manchester City on Sunday.
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