Thomas Tuchel has admitted that his selection policy was unfair on Kurt Zouma when he first arrived at Chelsea, as he chose Antonio Rudiger instead of him, but has been delighted with his fellow German’s performances ever since.
Tuchel took charge at Stamford Bridge in January and restored Rudiger immediately to the first team after he was being ignored by his predecessor, Frank Lampard.
The 28-year-old has been superb since then and a huge part of Chelsea’s resurgence under Tuchel, which has seen them move into the top four of the league and reach both the FA Cup and Champions League finals.
However, the German coach has sympathy for Zouma, who has not been regular in the first team since January, simply because Tuchel knew more about the game of Rudiger.
Rudiger’s current contract will expire at the end of next season, but Tuchel feels he will get a new one if his performances continue as they are.
‘Nothing is better than what he’s doing to fight for a new contract,’ said Tuchel. ‘If he wants to have a new contract he has our full support, if he wants to stay at the club then speaking with performances, this is what he’s doing.
‘Since day one we chose him in the first match, it was an unfair decision against Kurt, but he is German and I had a clear picture of what he can do because I followed him a bit more than Kurt Zouma.
- ‘Difficult to play against’ – Bernd Leno reveals Arsenal players hate facing ‘bitter’ Antonio Rudiger
- Thomas Tuchel sends warning to Chelsea players over Mason Mount
- Michael Owen makes top-four prediction after Liverpool’s win over West Brom
‘So it was an unfair decision and I had a clear picture of what I can ask of him and what he is capable of delivering to a team.
‘He took the chance and since then it is absolutely well deserved that he is in the team.
‘He is kind of an aggressive leader, has a natural aggression in him, hates to lose, hard to beat in duals, very very brave and full of energy in defending.
‘He’s leading by example, has a positive aggression, this is what we like and when he can channel all this into top performances we are very happy to have him.’
