Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel praised midfielder Mateo Kovacic after a standout performance in the 2-0 win against Newcastle last night.
The Blues boss says the Croatian international gives his all for the cause and he even has to calm him down in training to ensure he conserves his energy:
“I love him. I could wake the guy at 3 at night and he will be at Cobham at 3.15 ready to give everything. I need to calm the guy down in training, that he’s not doing too much. It’s a pleasure to have him.”
After an excellent display versus Newcastle, fans on Twitter were of a similar opinion to Tuchel, with many crediting Kovacic for dictating the game in the middle of the park:
Sensational footballer
— Tanay Parikh (@parikh_tanay) February 15, 2021
Wonder why Kovavic never played this well under Lampard. Brilliant box to box player.
— Remlex (@Remostikal) February 15, 2021
KOVA BOSSED TONIGHT
— Darren Carlson (@darrencarlson_) February 15, 2021
Chelsea fans saying Kova is aesthetics and has no end product I swear this lot deserves a pivot of sidwell and Drinkwater ?
— . (@wolyGzF2Jd3JLzG) February 15, 2021
He’s been fantastic
— Eric Andreski (@EAndreski) February 15, 2021
kova is class and he looks revitalized under Tuchel
— grizzle grazzle (@grizzle_grizzle) February 15, 2021
Should Kova play this way for the team to win am ohk with it. Xavi and Iniesta never bothered with so much assist but u could clearly see their impact on the team.
— essahanderson (@essahAnderson1) February 16, 2021
Kovc is a cheat code.
— AJ (@RilLife24) February 15, 2021
Kovacic has certainly been keen to prove his worth to his new manager. Not only was the 26-year-old making his trademark runs on the ball from deep, his passing was also superb, setting up two opportunities in the first half alone.
At the moment, the Croatian is making it very hard for Tuchel to drop him, and tremendous credit has to be given to the player who struggled for form at the beginning of the season.