‘He’s been hiding his talent’ – Thomas Tuchel’s praise for Ruben Loftus-Cheek as Chelsea advance to FA Cup final

Thomas Tuchel was full of praise for Ruben Loftus-Cheek, after his first Chelsea goal in almost three years as the Blues overcame Crystal Palace 2-0 in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. Loftus-Cheek got the opener in a tense affair with 65 minutes played, and Tuchel hopes the goal will enable the midfielder to build some momentum heading into the final weeks of the season.

Ad/> When asked about his performance in his post-match interview with ITV Sport, he said: “He was excellent, and was also very strong in the matches against Southampton and Real Madrid. The Emirates FA CupChelsea overcome Palace to set up Liverpool clash in FA Cup final4 HOURS AGO “He would’ve deserved to start, but honestly we expected Palace to play a back four and wanted to have Azpi [Cesar Azpilicueta] as a captain on the field, so we had Ruben from the bench and I’m very happy with him at the moment.

“This performance is what he shows in training, but it’s not enough because he needs to show it on the pitch. “I think he’s been hiding his talent and his potential for a long time in his career.

He’s capable of producing performances that everybody sees on the pitch, but he’s also capable of producing performances that hides all of his quality. “[The way he played on Saturday] This is the way to go and he needs to take it step by step so that he continues to grow in confidence.” Carrasco scores last-minute pen to seal Atleti dramatic win over Espanyol Bayern boss Nagelsmann reveals death threats after Champions League loss Tuchel reflected more on the game as a whole, the challenges of a gruelling fixture schedule and the difficulties facing a tactically-astute Palace side.

“It has been very challenging physically. I think we’re the team that has