Thomas Tuchel insists he is not happy about the defensive issues plaguing Chelsea
Speaking ahead of the clash against Southampton tomorrow as quoted by Football London, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel has had his say on the defensive issues plaguing Chelsea of late.
The Blues are coming into the game on the back of two losses, ending up on the wrong side of the result against Brentford in the Premier League last weekend and Real Madrid midweek in the Champions League. Chelsea have been faltering since the international break. and looked vulnerable.
After almost a season and a half of flawless defensive masterclasses, the defence has been coming in for scrutiny having conceded seven goals in the last two games. This is the first time since Tuchel became Blues boss that the London giant has looked shaky in defence.
Antonio Rudiger, who has been unbelievably consistent for quite some time now and Andreas Christensen have come under criticism recently for their performances. Speaking about his team’s defensive fragilities, Tuchel did not hide his emotions.
“We don’t like it. I don’t know if we’re concerned but it’s very untypical for us. We had a look into it, talked to the team about it to try to work out how to improve.”
The German is well aware of his team’s prowess and has termed the recent ordeal as being untypical. It remains to be seen if Tuchel has identified the pattern or whether our recent porosity is a mystery even to him.
“It’s not like us to defend like this and concede so many goals. We didn’t see it coming because it wasn’t the case before the international break. It’s not so easy to deal with because it doesn’t fit into a pattern.”
Time to step up?
Hopes of Champions League for Chelsea hang on by the thinnest margin and it’s time for the Blues’ defence to step up and they have to do it before it’s too late. Unless that happens soon, we will be knocked out of the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The foundations of Chelsea’s successful Champions League story last season were built on their impeccable defensive record and there is no surprise that Tuchel is worried about this aspect more than anything else.
There is a lot of uncertainty at Chelsea, both administratively and with respect to performances on the field. Both Rudiger and Christensen have contracts expiring at the end of the season and it could be that their contract issues may be affecting their performances on the pitch.
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Tuchel will have to come up with techniques to rejuvenate the defence and make them a force to be reckoned with again. Whilst this could just be a blip, the fact that it has gone on for a little too long is making the Blues uncomfortable.
It remains to be seen what happens next with respect to Chelsea and how they solve their defensive issues but trust Thomas Tuchel to find a way out of this.