Yahoo Sports GdS: Loftus-Cheek’s diminishing role under Fonseca continues – the situation
Ruben Loftus-Cheek found himself to be virtually undroppable last season, and yet this season his role has diminished with each passing week.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recall how almost one year ago exactly – on November 7 – Loftus-Cheek played one of the best games of his career in the Champions League victory against Paris Saint-Germain,
Loftus-Cheek one year ago after 12 games had an average rating of 6.12 as per the paper’s ratings. He had scored a goal against Cagliari and was being used as an attacking midfielder that brought some balance.
This season so far he stands on an average rating of 5.80 and, from mid-September to today, he has only played one game from the start. Simply put, RLC does not look like finding the level of form that saw him score 10 times last season.
The Englishman seems to be a confidence player, alternating good stretches with more difficult ones. Under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea he shone as a box-to-box player, then Milan bet on him and Stefano Pioli showed him faith.
The beginning of 2024 was his best period as Loftus-Cheek was one of the best players in Europe in January in terms of scoring, and he impressed until March. January: goal against Empoli, goal against Udinese and a brace against Bologna.
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In February: a goal against Rennes in the Europa League, then in March a goal against Slavia Prague in the first leg and the return leg, plus a goal against Fiorentina. Now, he isn’t scoring and has spent time out due to a flexor strain.
Fonseca took him out of the starting line-up on the day of the derby, to use Alvaro Morata as an attacking midfielder and Abraham as a striker. Since that day he has never really got his spot back and Loftus-Cheek now seems lost on the pitch.
The worst thing is that a player with his physical structure seems to be too soft, which means that his usual surges forward with the ball have barely been seen. The decline has coincided with the rise of Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders, so he will have to work hard to win his spot back.
