Chelsea told they’re better off without Christensen but FA Cup final snub ‘not a surprise’

Tuchel 'proud' of Chelsea players despite FA Cup defeat

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Chelsea are better off without Andreas Christensen, according to former Blues midfielder Andy Townsend. Christensen is reported to have pulled out of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Liverpool on the morning of the game, a report that does not surprise Townsend.

The Denmark international will leave Chelsea at the end of his contract this summer. Barcelona are set to sign him on a free transfer.

The Mail claims Christensen did not feel ready to play at the weekend so told Thomas Tuchel he wanted to withdraw from the squad. The 26-year-old has been at Chelsea since 2013 and has made over 150 appearances for the club.

Townsend was not taken aback by the report, saying on talkSPORT: “It doesn’t surprise me about him. It doesn’t surprise me with him. He’s always been a bit flakey.”

And the pundit then admitted Chelsea are better without Christensen, who he claims is not good enough to play for the club. He continued: “I don’t know what he was thinking.

“And if he did genuinely turn round to his coach and say ‘I don’t think I feel quite right’ then I think Chelsea are better off without him anyway. He’s not good enough, not good enough for them.

“Whenever I see a game with him playing, I always feel there’s a rick there, there’s a mistake there, there’s a situation where he will cost his team. I just do, I always have done. So they won’t miss him.

“But I’m staggered, as a player, you turn down the chance to play in an FA Cup final. I find it extraordinary, if he did, because I don’t know, we don’t know.”

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Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown says Christensen must have been told by Tuchel that he was not set to start at Wembley. Keown said: “We haven’t had his take on it but it does seem odd that he played in the Leeds game three days before in a back three.

“And, of that back three, he was the only one that didn’t play in the cup final. So maybe he deduced that he wasn’t going to be picked – he was probably given an indication of that the day before the match when they did their run-throughs.

“And maybe he felt that he just couldn’t bear to be involved. I can think of another reason.”

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