Dutch legend Marco van Basten has hit out at Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel for his treatment of attacking midfield ace Hakim Ziyech, as well as hinting that the latter should possibly leave the club.
Ziyech joined Chelsea in a big-money deal from Dutch heavyweights Ajax last summer and was tipped to be one of the Premier League's brightest sparks this term after impressing so heavily for his former club.
However, the Morocco international, who scored the winner during Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final victory over Manchester City just over a week ago at Wembley, has struggled to live up to expectations in his maiden season in England, scoring just five goals and claiming four assists in 32 appearances.
Whilst the statistics do not make for particularly great viewing, Ziyech has faced two lengthy spells on the sidelines through knee and hip injuries, respectively, hampering his chances of gaining some consistency.
However, even when fit and available for selection, the Moroccan ace has struggled to nail down a regular starting berth under Tuchel, who will be looking to see his side take a giant stride towards the final of the UEFA Champions League when they face Real Madrid in the first-leg of their semi-final on Tuesday evening.
But even when Ziyech has delivered, just as he did against City at Wembley last weekend, he has found himself back out of the starting line-up already, with Van Basten insisting that he has not done anything different to teammate Timo Werner, who is consistently picked despite having recently gone on an 11-game run without scoring.
"Ziyech again on the couch," Van Basten told Ziggo Sport via Voetbalzone. "When he gets in, that's like a striker. He can do that too, because he is just a good player. I am sad to see rotation... He's just not in the right place.
"That Werner plays really badly, but doesn't he come in much more often? The system this trainer plays is just not good for Ziyech.
"Then as Ziyech you have to say: 'You know what? I have to plead.'
"It is now about Ziyech because I have nothing to do with that man. This is not getting along like that. I'm not saying it's bad for Ziyech or bad for that trainer, but it doesn't work like that."
Against City, Ziyech was superb, not only for just scoring the winner but also his all-round performance, making life difficult for City's defenders by making accurate runs in behind.
But despite starting the following game against Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday evening, Ziyech was dropped from the starting line-up against West Ham United on Saturday.
Although Tuchel made that decision at the weekend, he waxed lyrical about Ziyech's talents following his match-winning heroics against City.
"Sometimes, [like against] Porto in the first-leg, we have a different approach in the half positions, we want to have more runners," Tuchel said. "And he [Ziyech] is more a dribbler, a passer, the guy who turns in the pockets.
"Sometimes, the decisions are never personal, it’s for the different characteristics of the players.
"He [Ziyech] showed me that he is ready when he came on from the bench and from what I saw in training."
