Antonio Rudiger 'is the alpha-male in Chelsea's dressing room'
Antonio Rudiger ‘is the alpha-male in Chelsea’s dressing room’… but some team-mates ‘believe his challenges in training cross the line’ with defender under-fire over his role in the sacking of Frank Lampard
- Chelsea dramatically sacked Frank Lampard as manager on Monday afternoon
- Antonio Rudiger fell out of favour as a central defensive option under Lampard
- The German has been criticised for his role in the sacking of the Blues legend
- He has been described as ‘the alpha-male’ in the current Chelsea dressing room
Antonio Rudiger is viewed as the ‘alpha-male’ in Chelsea’s dressing room and the player many feel Thomas Tuchel needs to get on side to make his spell in the Premier League a success.
The Germany international was heavily criticised for his role in the sacking of Frank Lampard on Monday having fallen out of favour for selection under the Englishman.
Detailed in the Daily Telegraph, Rudiger has been painted as the player who is most vocal in team meetings and is one of the louder voices in the dressing room during both good times and bad.
Antonio Rudiger has been described as the ‘alpha-male’ personality in Chelsea’s dressing room
He is alleged to have ‘crossed the line’ in training with tackling in the eyes of some team-mates
Rudiger represents a strong character in what is a young dressing room and while his leadership is vital, the report goes on to add that his ferocity in training has not always been welcomed.
Team-mates are said to have been ‘surprised’ at some of the challenges he has made in training sessions, with some of the belief that they ‘cross the line’ on what is acceptable.
Earlier this week it was detailed that Rudiger, Jorginho and Marcos Alonso ’caused issues’ in training in Lampard’s tenure.
Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham (left) has leaped to the defence of team-mate Rudiger (right) who has come under fire from sections of Chelsea supporters after being reportedly subject of team bust ups that preceded Frank Lampard’s sacking
Rudiger was alleged to have ‘clashed with Cesar Azpilicueta multiple times’ in what become a hostile environment prior to Lampard’s exit.
Both Azpilicueta and Tammy Abraham came to the defence of the German on social media on Tuesday to rubbish claims he is a difficult presence in the Blues squad.
‘Hearing some mad stuff about Antonio Rudier on social media today. Complete nonsense. Toni is a big bro to all of us,’ Abraham posted on Twitter.
Azpilicueta went on to quote tweet Abraham’s comments with three blue heart emojis and a picture of him alongside Rudiger.
Lampard would not be the only coach to find Rudiger tricky to manage given the German had a fractious relationship, at times, with Antonio Conte.
Lampard tried to sell Rudiger last summer having pushed the German down the pecking order
Rudiger is viewed as a dominant personality and Thomas Tuchel will need to get him on side
Conte is incredibly fiery and the Telegraph say the Italian still found Rudiger a ‘handful’ in the dressing room.
Lampard attempted to sell Rudiger last summer but with no luck and so he persisted to play Kurt Zouma alongside summer signing Thiago Silva.
In the two games prior to the FA Cup win over Luton, Lampard brought Rudiger back into the fold.
They were arguably the two biggest games of Lampard’s career as Chelsea boss and it spoke to Rudiger’s fighting spirit that Lampard went with him from the start of those matches.
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