Thomas Tuchel gives his verdict on Chelsea losing to Charlotte
In the interview published by The Sun, Thomas Tuchel slammed his side for their woeful performance against American side Charlotte in their pre-season friendly. Chelsea lost the game 5-3 on penalties with Conor Gallagher missing from the spot.
Chelsea took the lead through Christian Pulisic’s goal in the 30th minute but failed to make their early advantage count. It was Trevor Chalobah‘s handball during the injury time that saw the Blues conceding a penalty, allowing Charlotte to equalise. The game went to penalties straight after that, and Gallagher was the only player to miss from either side.
Tuchel tore into his team for their woeful performance. Chelsea had almost all their first-team players playing and yet they failed to win the game. While it may still be pre-season, the German manager did not hold back.
“In general, I would say we played a good first half but unfortunately, only 80 metres of the pitch. The last 20 metres of the pitch were not good enough. Second half, it took us half an hour to show some quality and then it was maybe for ten minutes, so it was not good at all.”
New signing Raheem Sterling made his Chelsea debut yesterday in the friendly. He was by far one of the better players on the pitch and Blues fans would be very happy with his opening outing. Tuchel was also happy with the Englishman’s performance and will hope that he continues with the same form or better when the season starts.
Michy Batshuayi played the first half in the number nine position and was substituted for Kai Havertz in the second half. Despite both of them being handed an opportunity to impress, it was clear that a proper number nine is something that Chelsea are lacking. Timo Werner missed the game due to a hamstring injury but is likely to return for the next game against Arsenal.
Something that caught the eye was when the entire ten players were changed throughout the game, Cesar Azpilicueta was left on the bench. This could potentially be because of him being linked with a move to Barcelona this summer. With Tuchel not bringing him on, it is likely an indication that he will leave.
Anybody who watched the game will know that Chelsea lacked that motivation and attacking threat. This is something that they have been lacking since the second half of last season. The lack of goal threat has been an issue and only with Sterling on the pitch do they look dangerous. Tuchel summed up yesterday’s game perfectly by claiming that there is still work to be done.
““Not offensively, not structure-wise, not in effort, hunger to be the dominant team. It was not good enough.”
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Chelsea fans will hope that their club does not perform like yesterday during the season. New defence signing Kalidou Koulibaly was absent from the squad and is likely to make his debut against Arsenal on Sunday. Tuchel and the fans will hope that the Blues perform much better in their next and final pre-season game.