Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel claims Edouard Mendy was in a lot of pain with 'fake injury'
- Scott Allen
- 4 September 2022
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel is unsure whether goalkeeper Edouard Mendy will be fit to play in the Champions League clash with Dinamo Zargreb on Tuesday after getting injured against West Ham.
The 30-year-keeper sustained a shoulder injury in the controversial 2-1 win over West Ham on Saturday, after Jarrod Bowen appeared to connect with the keeper when trying to jump over him.
Mendy howled in pain, which went some way in convincing officials to overturned West Ham's equaliser moments later. West Ham manager David Moyes later called it 'fake injury'.
"He (Mendy) acted as if he had a shoulder injury. I'm amazed that VAR sent the referee for him to see it," said Moyes.
"But I thought even if he goes to the TV there's no way he's overturning this, because this is a goal. It was a ridiculously bad decision."
However Tuchel, one of the few people in the world of football to actually believe it was a genuine foul, doubled down on the injury after the game and cast doubt on whether Mendy would be fit for action in a few days.
"He was in a lot of pain, we have to see, it's too early to comment on it," said Tuchel.
"I think he's at the moment a bit unlucky. In training he's fantastic, he's in general a very calm, very self-reflective guy who is aware that he lacks a little bit of luck at the moment. Things do no go in his favour. He has situations where if it's not 100 per cent clear because of his actions he gets punished massively.
"He's just in this moment, it feels like it's not so much his fault. I have a feeling that he tries everything, he's very focused and we will keep on supporting him."
Meanwhile, Barcelona signing Aubameyang was due to start Chelsea training on Sunday, to try out a custom-made protective face mask.
The 33-year-old suffered a broken jaw during a recent home invasion but is determined not to let the attack keep slowing down his start at Chelsea.
"For us it's an immense boost to have the window closed, and hopefully to have Auba back in training," said Tuchel.
"Auba will train on Sunday but I cannot tell you yet if it's full contact or individually.
"We'll need to see. He has the mask and the doctors tell me the mask is good and he feels comfortable with it.
"So he would be okay but we need to check it and we need to check it with no contact, half-contact, and then full contact.
"We need to see how he feels with it. It's too early to make a prediction but he'll be in training tomorrow morning and we'll see."
'He was in a lot of pain, we have to see, it's too early to comment on it.
'I think he's at the moment a bit unlucky. In training he's fantastic, he's in general a very calm, very self-reflective guy who is aware that he lacks a little bit of luck at the moment. Things do no go in his favour. He has situations where if it's not 100 per cent clear because of his actions he gets punished massively.
'He's just in this moment, it feels like it's not so much his fault. I have a feeling that he tries everything, he's very focused and we will keep on supporting him.'
