December 19, (THEWILL) –Â After Saul Niguez was the targeted of insults on social media, Thomas Tuchel has encouraged Chelsea fans to be gentle with the Atletico Madrid loanee.
Saul continues to struggle at Stamford Bridge, with his most recent cameo, a 25-minute feature at the conclusion of Chelsea’s 1-1 tie with Everton, leaving Chelsea fans more disappointed.
On Saturday, Saul shared a photo on the online photosharing platform, Instagram, but promptly took it down after receiving hundreds of hateful comments, many of which persisted on his older posts.
Tuchel was quick to jump to his player’s defense with rhetorical questions, while admitting Saul’s struggles: “Does [Saul] feel that he is in the same role and responsibility as he had at Atletico? No, maybe not yet. Does he struggle? Yes, he struggles.
“Was he the first player to struggle in the Premier League? No and he won’t be the last one. We protect our players and I will protect our players always. He played [against Everton] as a No.6, No.9 and as a wing-back.
“Is that fair to him? No, also it is not. Put it into context and you will have a more moderate picture and reaction. I understand people are disappointed after [the draw] but reactions like this are the reasons why I am not involved on social media.
“It is why I protect myself and you can get carried away. I can only hope Saul does not read it and why should he? He knows what he needs to do to improve and he is doing everything. He struggles at the moment and we are still trying to find the best version of him and will not stop pushing.”
Saul has made nine appearances for Chelsea this season, only two of which have been starts in the Premier League, and the Spaniard has been unable to rise through the ranks like many expected when he joined on transfer deadline day in September.
In recent weeks, Tuchel has gone with Jorginho and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, despite the fact that Saul is the club’s only completely fit central midfielder.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
