Mourinho gives fresh damning verdict on Baba Rahman's readiness for Premier League

Published on: 05 October 2015
Mourinho gives fresh damning verdict on Baba Rahman's readiness for Premier League
Baba Rahman is on the Chelsea bench even though Ivanovic is flopping

Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has given a new damning verdict on the preparedness of Baba Rahman for the English Premier League as the Portuguese manager struggles to defend when he keeps the Ghana star on the bench when they paid big cash to sign the left-back.

There seems a reluctance to switch Cesar Azpilicueta from left back and introduce Baba Rahman, signed from Augsburg in August for £21.7million.

Right back Branislav Ivanovic is in awful form. Yet he has played more minutes this season than any other player.

Mourinho continues to keep faith with the Serbian Ivanovic but his opponents continue to cash in.

Southampton should have conceded a penalty when Ivanovic pulled on the shirt of Virgil van Dijk in the box during their clash on Saturday.

Tadic became the latest player to bamboozle him with a deft move to ghost past him shortly after half time.

It remains a mystery as to why Mourinho does not drop him, move Azpilicueta to right-back and slot £21.7m Baba Rahman in on the left.

No Chelsea player has played more minutes this season than Ivanovic, with £17million left-back Abdul Baba Rahman clearly not yet trusted by the manager.

"Baba Rahman doesn't know what it is to play in this kind of championship," said Mourinho.

"He needs time to adapt. At the same time, every team is a team of giants.

"If you don't have a minimum of five tall players good in the air, you are dead on set-pieces. When I play Azpilicueta and Baba, I have only three."

But new £14m full-back Baba Rahman has not shrunk since he arrived in London, he was 5ft 10in when he arrived.

If Mourinho needed a six-footer, he should have signed Matteo Darmian, based on the Italian's performance.

Of course, Mourinho wanted John Stones and Paul Pogba, both 6ft 2in.

It may be his apparent antipathy towards the club, and the players, is because a pre-season fear that the latter would let him down is being realised.

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Learn more