After his underwhelming debut and struggle in Chelsea’s match against Aston Villa, how do you ease the player into the next couple of fixtures?
Chelsea faces Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup, next Wednesday evening. It will be interesting to see how Thomas Tuchel plans Saul Niguez’s next appearance in blue.
Will it be this weekend against Tottenham Hotspurs or in the league game?
Chelsea writers and presenters, Scott Clayton (SC), Sam Inkersole (SI) and Anita Abayomi (AA) – on Friday afternoon’s Facebook Live discussed the Spaniard’s start at Chelsea.
Here’s a brief look at their conversation…
Sam Inkersole: “Yeah I think he’ll probably hold him back for the league cup. Because Kante is going to be back in the squad, so if anyone is going to come off the bench it’s going to be Kante – if he’s on the bench obviously that is.
“Or perhaps it could even be someone like Ruben Loftus-Cheek if he makes the matchday squad. I think after Saul’s debut, how he struggled. It might be wise to hold him back. I think the league cup game would be the perfect game for him to get back into it.
“It’s at Stamford Bridge as well. I think that would be better for him to get acclimatised to English football in general. He’ll get the full 90 minutes I imagine. Unless he has a real stinker. I think it’s probably wise to hold him back next midweek as opposed to try and be a game-changer against Spurs if things aren’t going so well.”
Here’s what the Carefree Chelsea team said about Sauls next match in Blue…
Scott Clayton:“ I wouldn’t start him against Tottenham. Aston Villa showed he needs a little more time to settle and Tottenham is too big of a rivalry to throw him in the deep end. Kante is fit and Kovacic and Jorginho have been in great form that he’s my fourth choice for this one but the League Cup tie against Aston Villa before Man City I would start him.”
Renuka Odedra: “I wrote this how Saul might find it difficult to adjust to the Premier League in a piece I previously wrote. We saw that in his first appearance against Aston Villa. The transition period is going to be difficult. I think it will be interesting to see how he does against the same opposition in the League Cup.
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“At the same time, I just can’t see how he’s going to replace someone like Kovacic or Kante for example in a game Tottenham in the Premier League game this weekend. So, I would say play him in the league cup build up his knowledge and experience of the pace and football in England, because it is different to what he would have been used to in La Liga with Atletico Madrid.”
Anita Abayomi: “I think Saul would be better suited for the league cup tie against Aston Villa. After a bit so convincing start to his Chelsea career he needs to be eased into the team where there would be less pressure. Aston Villa midweek will be a calmer way to showcase what he can bring to the table for Chelsea and hopefully he can take some lessons learned from his last match against the Villains.
“Looking forward to him playing midweek instead of playing in a high pressure – profile game this weekend.”
Jake Stokes: “As much as I would love to see Saul thrown back into the side, turn a new chapter and take a claim for himself at Chelsea I wouldn’t want him starting against Spurs. I would’ve liked to see him start vs Zenit though – that was the right game for him to come back to I think.
“So, instead I’d like to see him versus Villa in the league cup. The perfect shot at redemption from where it all went wrong, unfortunately. Saul has a lot left to offer that we haven’t seen yet and I’m excited to see his resurgence in Blue.”
Would you start Saul against Tottenham, this weekend? Follow our Carefree Chelsea members
Scott , Anita, Jake and Renuka on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.