Thomas Tuchel has never doubted the natural footballing ability of Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Not when he was in Germany. Not when he was at Paris Saint-Germain. Yet that innate talent hasn't proved enough for the midfielder to cement his spot at Chelsea and Tuchel insists that must change. It's time, the German coach says, for the 26-year-old to understand just how influential he can be.
"We knew the player all the time," Tuchel said this afternoon during his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace, the club that Loftus-Cheek spent the 2017/18 campaign at on loan. "It was so promising, but it was always like, will he have his breakthrough? Now, will he have his breakthrough? He is at a certain age now, and he's never had his breakthrough, everybody is still waiting, still waiting for the next step and the next step.
"So for him, it's crucial, crucial, crucial to focus on the very day he is in. It can be a huge distraction to think a week ahead, two weeks ahead, or a month ahead about what can be. There could have been so much more, and it does not make sense to worry because he is where he is.
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"We speak a lot about this. He is gifted to be here, and it is a huge, huge opportunity. He has everything that it takes – he wouldn't play, or we wouldn't count on him otherwise – but he has heard this for many years, maybe too much. He heard this throughout the academy levels. Through the loans, everybody was telling him how good the potential is and how big a future there can be. But the future is only there if you live up to it in the present.
"He needs to trust himself. With him, it's not overconfidence with him, it's the opposite. He needs to get confidence in his body physically and his ability to do this [type of performance] not once or twice, but three, four, ten, twenty times. The next step is to do it for the third time in a row because he was excellent against Southampton [and Real Madrid].
"So it's little steps, and while it may even sound like it is too little given the potential and what's all in there, and even given the performances he can produce, but it's actually not. It's the only way to grow in confidence and become the player, finally, that he can be. But it's in him."
Tuchel, at this point, paused for breath and was asked if Loftus-Cheek's supposed lack of self-confidence, especially given his stature, was a surprise. He replied: "Self-confidence doesn't come from being big and tall and good looking, which he is.
"It also comes from experience, and I still have the feeling that Ruben is maybe a bit surprised that he can do it for 105 minutes in this kind of position [against Real Madrid]. Now he needs to re-impose that.
"He can do it in training, but he needs to do it in games, it's very different. He lacked the stability to go out on loan and be a key player, and he lacked this history. It was not like he was the absolutely key player when he was on loan [at Fulham], and then he came back – he always shows his potential, always shows his potential.
"He is a very nice guy and a quiet guy. As I say, it's not over-confidence, it's the opposite. He needs to impose it by keeping the focus, trusting himself, and pushing himself to the next game, pushing himself to the physical limit. I don't think he is fully aware of what he can produce, what he can physically give. I think he is still in the situation where he accepts limits too early, and he is used to that. This is where we are with him, but we will keep on pushing.
"Hopefully, he can produce the third or fourth performance and then more of these performances without also being injured because this is also, unfortunately, a big part of his history. So to sum it all up, it is way too early for him to think about anything else."
