Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen should demand Maurizio Sarri plays him instead of David Luiz, according to Garth Crooks.
Luiz came under fire for his performances in Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
Why should Christensen be demanding to play? Four key things to know…
- After returning from a two-year loan spell with Borussia Monchengladbach, Andreas Christensen became a quick favourite under Antonio Conte.
- But the Dane lost his place towards the end of last season due to some costly errors, with David Luiz preferred by new boss Sarri.
- Luiz, who Gary Neville once said seemed as though he was controlled by a 10-year-old on PlayStation, was at fault for two goals in the recent 3-1 defeat to Spurs.
- And Garth Crooks believes Christensen should capitalise on the criticism, demanding to play.
- Christensen completed 100% of his passes the last time Chelsea beat Spurs.
Andreas Christensen's game by numbers vs. Spurs:
100% pass accuracy
9 clearances
4 blocks
2 aerial duels won
1 interception— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 20, 2017
David Luiz was culpable for two of Tottenham’s goals at Wembley, first moving out the way of Harry Kane’s shot which left Kepa Arrizabalaga flat-footed before being beaten far too easily by Heung-min Son for Spurs’ third.
Christensen was on the bench for the defeat, as he has been for most of the Premier League season, having yet to impress new boss Sarri.
But, speaking in his weekly Team of the Week column for the BBC, Crooks believes the Danish centre-back needs to be demanding to start ahead of Luiz.
In his comments on Tottenham star Son, Crooks said: “The way Son breezed past Jorginho to score a goal his performance richly deserved made the Chelsea midfielder look pedestrian.
“Meanwhile David Luiz – who on his day can be one of the best defenders in the world – is having one of those seasons where he has no intention of getting hurt.
“If Andreas Christensen has anything about him the Danish international will be knocking on Maurizio Sarri’s door demanding he starts the next game instead of the Brazilian.
“If a defender isn’t prepared to get hurt he has no right to be on a football field.”
The defeat was Chelsea’s first in the league this season, and ended an 18-game unbeaten run across all competitions.
Is Christensen’s Chelsea future at doubt?
After looking like becoming the first player to truly break the mould of the Chelsea loanee last season under Conte, Christensen is back among the bench rarely playing.
The Danish centre-back was a bright spark in Chelsea’s defence and looked to be set for the future until costly mistakes in consecutive games against Barcelona and Manchester United saw his confidence drop.
Subsequently, Conte’s confidence in Christensen dropped and Gary Cahill was recalled into the starting XI at a time when his own Chelsea career looked to be over.
When Conte left, and Maurizio Sarri took charge, many expected Christensen to feature in defence alongside Antonio Rudiger due to his passing abilities but the Italian opted for Luiz.
As a result, Christensen has been left to Europa League and League Cup appearances for his playing time this season, starting all six of their non-Premier League matches.
But on occasion, the defender has not looked too comfortable on the ball with doubts surrounding his future with Chelsea.
Despite this, Christensen has vowed to keep fighting for his place under Sarri, at the same time confirming he will be looking to stay at Chelsea when the January transfer window opens.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said when asked about the possibility of leaving.
“Things are different from last season. I played a lot of games [last season] but this season it hasn’t been like that. It’s always difficult for a player but we’ll see what happens.”
The post Andreas Christensen urged to demand David Luiz’s starting spot at Chelsea appeared first on Squawka News.
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