Chelsea is an easy target. Christopher Nkunku, who played only four games after being hired by Chelsea this season, failed to display his team’s best performance again due to injury.
“Football London,” a media outlet specializing in London-based clubs, said on the 6th, “Nkunku is unable to play in the third round of the FA Cup due to a minor injury.” This was revealed at a press conference ahead of the FA Cup third round Preston North End match held by Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino on the same day.
“Nkunku can’t start the game at Preston North End,” Pochettino said. “He had a minor injury during the week. However, I won’t remove him from the list at all.” “As I said before, we need to be careful with Nkunku. Since he hasn’t even played for the past six months, his physical condition doesn’t change much,” Pochettino said.
After joining Chelsea last summer, Nkunku was replaced around the 20th minute of the first half when he was injured while playing against Borussia Dortmund in the preseason. The knee injury had recurred. Nkunku was eliminated from the French national team at the Qatar World Cup that year after suffering a knee injury in mid-November 2022, when he was playing for RB Leipzig in Germany, and he did not return until February.
His departure was very bad news, as Chelsea paid a large sum of 66 million euros (W95 billion) for Nkunku. Furthermore, his return was expected in December, entering the middle of the Premier League, as he had to undergo surgery and rehabilitation. Eventually, Nkunku could sit on the bench in the 17th round of the 2023/24 English Premier League against Sheffield United in mid-December after missing 22 games for Chelsea.
His England debut came in the following EFL Cup quarterfinal match against Newcastle United. He replaced Nicola Jackson at the 24th minute in the second half. In addition, Pochettino played as a substitute in the league match against Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) and scored a goal. Confident about his physical condition, Pochettino decided to start and replace Nkunku in the following two league matches, respectively.
However, is it because he has not been able to adjust to the sudden deployment of the game? Nkunku failed to start at the FA Cup due to abnormal conditions in his body only 152 minutes after his return from long-term injury.
“Football London” said Pochettino had constantly told his fans that Nkunku needed time, but he desperately needed to score in the game against Newcastle. “Pochettino failed to overcome the difficulty of scoring in the game and made Nkunku play.” Chelsea, which had been trailing 0-1 until 2 minutes into extra time in the second half, entered the penalty shootout with Mykhailo Mudryk’s golden equalizer. In the end, the team won 4-2. 스포츠토토
The same happened against Wolves. “Chelsea, which was losing 0-2, needed a goal and decided to replace Nkunku,” the media said. “Nkunku also showed good pass play and physical condition in the following game, and successfully finished against Wolves.” Critics point out that Nkunku’s excessive participation caused injury again.
If Nkunku’s injury also leads to a long-term loss of power, bad news will hit Pochettino at a bad timing. Nicola Jackson, who is currently playing as the main central striker, has joined the Senegalese national team to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations, which will open in mid-January. Currently, the only central striker Pochettino can use is Armando Broja.
It may not be a serious injury if Nkunku can sit on the FA Cup bench, but Pochettino should handle Nkunku more carefully.
In particular, Nkunku’s replacement has been a measure taken in the face of a lack of goals, so if the strikers remain silent in the upcoming FA Cup match, Pochettino may have to play Nkunku despite a long-term departure.
“Football London” said, “It is good for Nkunku to participate in the FA Cup as a substitute resource, but there can be variables that have to force him to take the mound,” adding, “We need to make every effort to prevent Pochettino from letting Nkunku play (due to a lack of goals).”
Chelsea is currently ranked 10th in the league, showing signs of instability. With even major players out of power, the key question is how Pochettino will overcome the unfavorable situation. Chelsea will have a showdown with Preston, a mid-ranking team in the English Second Division Championship, over the qualification of the FA Cup to the fourth round (32nd round) at Stamford Bridge, its home stadium, at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.