Ross Barkley out in the cold again despite impressive cameos | OneFootball

Nobody thought Ross Barkley would get a sniff at Chelsea this season, but injuries to Mateo Kovacic and then to N’Golo Kante and Jorginho gave him a sniff, and he looked good in his appearances – albeit in smaller games against weaker opposition.

Unlike many Chelsea fans who had grown jaded with Barkley after a few years of mediocre performances, Thomas Tuchel has fresh eyes on him and the coach has always insisted the door is open to all his squad players – just look at how Trevoh Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek worked their way into his plans.

But despite his bright cameos, Barkley was totally overlooked last week against Watford when Chelsea were down to the bare bones in midfield. Saul was picked ahead of him to start, and when the Spaniard was hauled off at half time, it was Chalobah picked to step into midfield to replace him.

We don’t know if it’s tactical, performance in training or what, but you’ve got to feel bad for Ross when you see how Saul performed.