Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Thomas Tuchel decision branded a 'joke' as Chelsea's best player in FA Cup final is revealed

Here's all the news from around Stamford Bridge over the past 24 hours.

Player ratings vs Leicester City

It's now back-to-back defeats in successive FA Cup finals for Chelsea after being beaten 1-0 by Leicester City on Saturday evening.

Less than a year on from losing to London rivals Arsenal, the Blues arrived at Wembley Stadium as slight favourites in their quest to land an FA Cup and Champions League double.

However, one part of that plan is over following Youri Tielemans' stunning goal that proved to be the winner.

The Blues did have the ball in the back of the net thanks to Ben Chilwell's scrambled effort, but the left-back's joy turned to agony when VAR ruled it out for offside.

Thomas Tuchel's side must now dust themselves down ahead of another clash with the Foxes - this time in the Premier League - on Tuesday night.

Despite the loss, Reece James scored high in the ratings, as did N'Golo Kante against his former club.

But how did the rest of the team fare?

Click here for football.london 's Chelsea player ratings vs Leicester City.

Tuchel transcript

The Chelsea head coach faced the media following the Leicester game and the main talking point from his press conference was about James' surprise role in a back three.

"Reecey played in the back three and we put Azpi up higher," Tuchel said. "They changed the position because we know about the favourite position of Jamie Vardy in transition and we wanted to have Reecey’s power, Reecey’s acceleration, and top speed against him to eliminate this threat.

"He did fantastic today. Very very happy.

Chelsea's Reece James was superb in the FA Cup final for the losing side (Kirsty Wigglesworth - Pool/Getty Images)

"On the same side, we wanted to have Azpi a bit higher because with his experience and his character he takes a bit more risk than Reecey in the last line. If Azpi could have scored the first goal and it was not deflected before him, it would have been a great decision.

"Now it is a normal decision, but it is a decision for tactical reasons and for Reecey’s top speed and I’m very happy how we defended in general today."

Full transcript.

Tuchel blasted over Abraham snub

One person not happy with Tuchel's decisions against Leicester is the girlfriend of Tammy Abraham.

The Blues no.9 wasn't even in the matchday squad on Saturday which prompted his partner, Leah Monroe, to take to Instagram - in a post that has since been deleted - to label the decision as a 'joke'.

"How on Earth do you make the decision to leave your top goalscorer out of the squad for a final?!" she wrote. "The same person who even scored the goals to actually qualify for this competition?

"It's not making any sense to me whatsoever. Not even the bench?!

"This has to be a joke."

As mentioned above, the post has was swiftly deleted and was followed up with: "God is in control."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.