Thomas Tuchel has hailed Cesar Azpilicueta’s enduring impact as Chelsea captain after the Spanish defender completed the full trophy set.
Azpilicueta became the first Chelsea player to claim glory in every possible global club tournament that the club are eligible to participate in, when he captained the Blues to the Club World Cup title in Abu Dhabi.
The 32-year-old is out of contract this summer and Barcelona are determined to lure him away from Stamford Bridge.
But Tuchel has praised his skipper for continuing to improve, perhaps stressing the point in light of Neil Warnock’s curious criticism who claimed Azpilicueta has been “fortunate” to enjoy such success at Chelsea.
Tuchel hailed Azpilicueta for continually protecting his Chelsea team-mates though, even with the former Marseille man’s long-term situation still unresolved.
In recent years, Azpilicueta is among the most consistent players in Chelsea. He has played under so many different managers at Chelsea, yet he always find a way to fit into all the managers plan. It is absolutely wrong for Warnock to say that he is just lucky and fortunate to be in Chelsea.
Azpilicueta is a good defender but not the greatest Chelsea ever had. He lack some flavor that would have put him among the great. This player can't consistently give decisive crosses, he doesn't score or assist like some world best skippers such as John Terry, Marcello, Dani Alves and other great defenders. He is a good guy but not among the greatest.
I also think that Chelsea should allow him to go except they want him to stay as a backup to James, though going to Barcelona doesn't mean he's going to play often. If he can play from the bench, I think it would be better staying with Chelsea as a legend and probably retire there with them.