Ruben Loftus-Cheek is not physically or tactically ready to be thrown in at the Premier League deep end, according to Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.
Loftus-Cheek was handed a rare start by Mourinho for Wednesday night’s Champions League triumph over Maccabi Tel Aviv at Stamford Bridge.
The tall 19-year-old midfielder impressed on the big stage, registering the best pass success rate of any Chelsea player on the night at 93 per cent, before being substituted with a little over 10 minutes to go.
Mourinho has never had any doubts about Loftus-Cheeks ability and mental toughness but admits there are another couple of areas he needs to work on before he gives him regular football.
He said: “I play many times players of 18 or 19 and when many of them played their first match it was a big one. The first match for Raphael Varane was Champion Leagues against Man City at 18 years old.
Chelsea 4-0 Maccabi in pictures:
“The first match for Davide Santon was Roma and he was aged 17. Carlos Alberto’s first match for Porto was Manchester United in the Champions League.
“Ruben is ready. He’s very confident, very good self esteem, wants to play and is not afraid of anything. He’s not ready from the tactical point of view.
“The tactical point of view is where to keep working, improving, kill him in Australia, the process is on the tactical and physical side.
“To play the other night like he did, after 77 minutes he had cramp. He’s not ready in that side. Mentally is ready and if I played him tomorrow it would be no problem.”
Loftus-Cheek’s accurate passing helped Chelsea create a more fluid style to their game against Maccabi, something which particularly pleased the Special One.
He wants to see the Blues continue to build on that against Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime, with whoever he picks expected to carry out his plans against his old foe Arsene Wenger.
Mourinho added: “We were much faster moving the ball. My attacking players for some matches, when they receive the ball they have an opponent marking.
“In this game, I think the speed of the ball was much higher.
“The touches were much better and our players were receiving the ball in conditions to attack. We improve the speed of the game by increasing the speed of the ball.
“Some players I have to keep but it is something I always try. Many, many times it doesn’t depend on the players it depends on the approach.”
