Antonio Rudiger ‘is the alpha male in Chelsea’s locker room’ … but some teammates ‘believe his training challenges cross the line’ with the defender being attacked for his role in the dismissal of Frank Lampard
Antonio Rudiger is seen as the “alpha male” in the Chelsea dressing room and the player that many think Thomas Tuchel needs to side with to make his Premier League spell a success.
The German international was heavily criticized for his role in the resignation of Frank Lampard on Monday after falling out of favor with the English national team.
Detailed in the Daily Telegraph, Rudiger was portrayed as the player who speaks the most at team meetings and is one of the loudest voices in the dressing room during good and bad times.
Antonio Rudiger has been described as the “alpha male” personality in Chelsea’s dressing room
He is accused of having ‘crossed the line’ in training with the tackle in the eyes of some teammates
Rudiger represents a strong character in what is a young locker room and although his leadership is vital, the report adds that his ferocity in training was not always welcome.
It is said that teammates were ‘surprised’ by some of the challenges he faced in training, with some of the belief that they ‘crossed the line’ in what is acceptable.
Earlier this week it was detailed that Rudiger, Jorginho and Marcos Alonso ’caused problems’ in training under Lampard’s management.
Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham (left) jumped to the defense of teammate Rudiger (right), who was attacked by Chelsea fan sectors after being targeted by a team elimination that preceded Frank Lampard’s resignation
Rudiger was accused of ‘clashing with Cesar Azpilicueta several times’ in what became a hostile environment before Lampard’s departure.
Both Azpilicueta and Tammy Abraham defended the German on social media on Tuesday to denounce that he is a difficult presence on the Blues team.
‘Hearing some crazy things about Antonio Rudier on social media today. Complete nonsense. Toni is a big brother to all of us, ‘Abraham posted on Twitter.
Azpilicueta continued to cite Abraham’s comments on Twitter with three blue heart emojis and a photo of him next to Rudiger.
Lampard would not be the only coach to consider Rudiger complicated to manage, as the German had a turbulent relationship, sometimes with Antonio Conte.
Lampard tried to sell Rudiger last summer, having pushed the German down the ranks
Rudiger is seen as a dominant personality and Thomas Tuchel will need to help him
Conte is incredibly fiery and the Telegraph says the Italian still found Rudiger a ‘handful’ in the dressing room.
Lampard tried to sell Rudiger last summer, but with no luck, so he insisted on playing with Kurt Zouma alongside Thiago Silva.
In the two games preceding the FA Cup win over Luton, Lampard brought Rudiger back to the stronghold.
They were arguably the two biggest games in Lampard’s career as Chelsea boss and it was in Rudiger’s fighting spirit that Lampard had been with him since the start of those matches.