Mourinho slams 'superstar' youngster Loftus-Cheek

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho delivered a damning assessment of home-grown midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek's performance in Tuesday's 1-0 tour win over Sydney FC.

Mourinho slams 'superstar' youngster Loftus-Cheek

(Reuters)





The teenager, viewed as one of the brightest young prospects with the English champions, replaced Diego Costa before halftime but was substituted himself half an hour later.

"He has to learn that at 19 you have to run three times as much as the other guys," Mourinho told a news conference.

"You have to play in your limits and you don't have to play like a superstar with the ball at your feet because this is not the under-18s.

"I don't accept that a player ... when we don't have the ball, doesn't press, he doesn't have intensity and he is waiting for other people to recover the ball," added Mourinho following Chelsea's final match of the season.

    "I don't accept that in superstars and I don't accept that in a 19-year-old kid. He has to learn what it takes to play for us."

Loftus-Cheek has been brought into the first-team squad this season but made only sporadic appearances for the Londoners.

Earlier this year the Portuguese said that he expected the teenager to play a more prominent role next term.





(Additional reporting by Douglas Beattie, editing by Tony Jimenez)


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world