Tuchel explains why Werner did not play in Chelsea's FA Cup final defeat vs Liverpool & why Loftus-Cheek played for just 14 minutes
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel revealed that injury kept Timo Werner out of Saturday's FA Cup final defeat to Liverpool, while also explaining a curious extra-time episode featuring Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The Blues were without both Werner, who was named on the bench, and compatriot Kai Havertz at Wembley, but pushed Liverpool all the way to penalties when the game finished 0-0 after extra time.
There Liverpool prevailed 6-5, after Mason Mount missed the decisive kick for the Blues.
Why was Werner not brought on as a substitute for Chelsea?
"Kai [Havertz] did not train yesterday because of hamstring problems and he thought if he trained he would injure himself," Tuchel told reporters after the game when asked about his absent German duo.
"We left it until the last test this morning but it was not possible.
"Timo was injured and uncomfortable during the warm-up and said he could not play."
Loftus-Cheek's brief Wembley appearance
Loftus-Cheek, meanwhile, put in a short stint indeed for his side off the bench.
The midfielder came on for Christian Pulisic at the end of the first half of extra time, and appeared to be playing as a centre-forward, but was then substituted himself in favour of Ross Barkley just before the shoot-out, lasting a grand total of 14 minutes on the pitch.
"No, that was purely for penalties," Tuchel explained when asked if Loftus-Cheek was injured.
"Ruben doesn't have a good history statistically and Ross has. So it was down to the penalties."