Once Chelsea’s best centre-defender, Antonio Rudiger has been hit with a mixed reality over the span of two years in Chelsea. After 84 days of absence due to a groin injury setback that occurred prior in September, Antonio Rudiger returned to training.
Chelsea recorded ten victories but only managed four clean sheets out of the 18 games the team was in Rudiger’s absence in that period. This justified the fanfare over the German’s selection against the French side. He failed to feature just six games throughout the whole campaign as Chelsea coach, Frank Lampard became to have faith in his competency in the fragile backline- a mature centre back who could lead the young ones around him.
Unfortunately, the situation didn’t go well with him as the Blues only managed to keep seven more clean sheets with Antonio in the starting XI and won only half of the total number of matches. The problems plaguing the defensive department rang the alarming bells and it was evident for everyone to see that the new coach, Lampard needed an overhaul in the summer transfer window or at least a major revamp in the squad’s backline. The future was uncertain for Fikayo Tomori and Marcos Alonso but not many questions were raised over Rudiger’s future at the Stamford Bridge as the new campaign started.
The 27-year-old was a consistent figure in the defense under Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri being the coach since he joined from Roma in 2017 and the reason for his inclusion is pretty justifiable too. He joined the Blues as the winner of the Confederations Cup with Germany and a second-place finish in Serie A. But not everything was rosy in his Chelsea career as the newest Premier League.
This summer saw the addition of the veteran defender, Thiago Silva from Champions league runners up Paris Saint Germain and it was a sign that Rudiger will go down the pecking order with his arrival. The addition of Silva with the like of young defenders, Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma made it tough to break into the starting Xi.
The Blues coach left Rudiger on the bench and played Christensen and Zouma for quite many matches until Silva was totally fit. They played against the mighty Liverpool with Zouma and Christensen in the defending pair. This totally flipped the above narrative and they tried it last year when Rudiger was undergoing operations.
But being fit and fine, he was still kept on the bench as Chelsea defeated Brighton 3-1 quite unconvinvinglyNow fully fit and functional, he watched on as the Blues rather unconvincingly beat Brighton 3-1. Rudiger’s name was not even amongst the substitutes bench, a pattern that continued for the next six games at home against Liverpool. Meanwhile, Christensen received a red card in the Liverpool match and Silva’s debut coincided with a 3-3 draw against West Bromwich Albion with a howler to gift away a goal.
Once again, due to the absence of Silva, Rudiger was given the opportunity to stay. He quite down with the interests of Roma and AC Milan all keen to land in the defender. But he again got a chance to play after his failed transfer and he has done quite well in his first match of the season at UCL. Chelsea won 4-0 and the Antonio Rudiger-led defence of Chelsea kept a clean sheet.
The top European clubs gave up their pursuit as Chelsea has started to think about his future. Thiago Silva is 36 years of age and he cannot be played week in and week out. The German defender can be of use due to his experience as the coach can use him as a backup and that will keep Silva fit for the crucial games.
This has made Lampard take a U-turn as Rudiger’s availability may comfort the backline in case of any injuries. He can play as a substitute for the already formed pair of Silva-Zouma.
