'The manager had to have some balls' - Tuchel explains decision to introduce Pulisic as a wing-back in Chelsea's win vs Newcastle

Thomas Tuchel said it took "big balls" to play Christian Pulisic as a wing-back in Chelsea's win over Newcastle.

The Blues took down Newcastle 1-0 on Sunday, with Kai Havertz's late winner proving just enough to seal a crucial win.

Tuchel opted to introduce Pulisic for Malang Sarr in the 78th minute, sticking the American star in defence, and he admitted that it took some "big balls" to make that call.

Tuchel was reminded of the fact that he called on his players to have "big balls" before explaining his decision to play Pulisic in defence.

"Did I say that?! Okay. The manager had to have some balls to make these decisions," he began. "As you are aware, today we started with a 4-1-4-1. [Cesar Azpilicueta] was out, Reece James was out and Callum [Hudson-Odoi] played there [at wing-back] and was out.

"Pulisic came from some days off feeling sick so we struggled to find a right wing-back. Marcos [Alonso] struggled through his corona times and we were not sure if he could make it so we started in a 4-1-4-1. In the second half, it was a back five.

"Malang is good in defending but we took the risk on the left side to be more offensive. We defended against their strikers in more of a three against three. Jorginho was the man in front of the back three to control counterattacks and long balls. Hakim [Ziyech] did it against Tottenham who had a back five and it was a bit of the same situation as against Tottenham in one of the four games we played recently.

"It is not their best position but it is a bit easier for a player like Christian to do it when they come into the match. We took the risk to increase the offensive threat with some runs. In the end, we have a run with Kai and Christian Pulisic to arrive in the box.

"In the