Former Chelsea defender Frank Sinclair is not sure that Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley can play together in a three-man midfield for the Blues.
Maurizio Sarri’s men secured a 1-0 win over BATE Borisov during their Europa League Group L match at the Borisov Arena in Belarus on Thursday night to book their place in the knockout stage of the competition.
The Italian manager handed out starts to both Barkley and Loftus-Cheek, alongside Jorginho, in midfield as Chelsea made their intentions clear with the team selection.
However, the Blues were not at their destructive best as they struggled to adapt to the conditions and the pitch on their way to a nervy win over the Belarusian champions.
Sinclair was watching on and is now worried that both Barkley and Loftus-Cheek cannot play together in midfield for Chelsea since they have similar attributes that do not complement each other.
“Our fear is that they are very similar, want to get on the ball, want to travel with the ball”, Sinclair said on Chelsea TV.
“Tonight I thought they made similar runs at the same time.
“If you've got a [N’Golo] Kante in there or a [Mateo] Kovacic they are a different type of player, they want to get on the ball in spaces.
“I wasn't sure it worked because they are so similar.”
But Sinclair also added that the two players could feature together if Loftus-Cheek is deployed as a wide man, similar to how Chelsea lined up against Burnley in the Premier League last month after the injury to Pedro.
“I think they can play together, but I think Loftus-Cheek has got to play one of the wider roles if Barkley plays, where your [Eden] Hazards, Pedros and Willians are”, he added.
Chelsea can be the winners of Group L if they manage to secure a point against either Videoton or PAOK from their two remaining games in the group stage of the Europa League.
