Chelsea FC Manager Jose Mourinho laid into Ruben Loftus-Cheek post the Sydney FC match for not working hard enough. .
Mourinho said, “When Chelsea had the ball he was playing very well, but when Sydney had the ball I think he was more impressed by watching Nemanja Matic and John Obi Mikel work, instead of him working.”
“So, with Ruben, it’s one step back in terms of my relationship with him. If he doesn’t know what it is to play for me and Chelsea, it’s one step back.”
“He has to learn that at 19 you have to run three times more than the others, you have to play to your limits and not play like a superstar with the ball at your feet because this is not under-18s.”
“The Under-18 competition is too easy for him. Hea s too good to play in the Under-18s but I dona t accept that when hea s playing in midfield with Mikel and Matic when we dona t have the ball he doesna t press, doesna t have intensity and hea s waiting for everybody else to recover the ball.
“I dona t accept that in the superstars so how can I accept that in a kid? He has to learn what it takes to play for us.”
Yesterday, Michael Ballack had said that Chelsea FC were ‘one or two big players short’ from dominating in Europe. Ruben Loftus-Cheek could fill that void in the coming years should he live up to his talents. But, he will need to show Mourinho that he has the right attitude to become a part of the new Chelsea FC that the manager is building.
