Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has urged fans to ease off Saul Niguez.
He came on for his fourth top-flight appearance in the 1-1 draw with Everton in midweek midway through the second half and copped all sorts of flak online from Chelsea supporters for his performance post-match.
Tuchel said of the 27-year-old, who has won 19 caps for Spain: “Does Saul feel the same as he did at Atletico and the same guy with the same role and responsibility? No, maybe not yet.
“Does he struggle? Yes, he struggles.
“Is he the first player to struggle coming to the Premier League? No. And he will not be the last one.
“We will protect our players. I will protect my players always.
“On Thursday, he played as a No.6, as a No.9 and as a wing-back.
“Is that fair to him? No, it is not.
“So this needs to be put into context and then we have to have a bit more of a moderate picture and a more moderate reaction.
“I understand that people are disappointed after Thursday, but reactions like this are exactly the reasons why I do not involve myself in social media.
“I protect myself because this is when it can get carried away and I only hope that Saul does not read it because why should he?
“He knows what we think about him, he knows what he has to do to improve and he's doing everything he can.
“He struggles in this moment but we still are working together to find the best version of him and we will not stop pushing."
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