Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer blames Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel for dropping out of PL title race
As per the Metro, Premier League record goalscorer and Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has blamed Thomas Tuchel for Chelsea dropping out of the Premier League title race against Manchester City.
The Blues lost out to Manchester City by a goal last weekend at the Etihad Stadium, which effectively ruled the club out of the title race, with City twelve points ahead of the London club despite playing a game less. Chelsea continues to make life difficult for themselves as they only drew against Brighton last night to hand City an added advantage.
Shearer has now blamed Chelsea’s recent poor form on Tuchel’s constant complaining about fatigue and player welfare. He believes that the German is sending out negative messages which have adversely impacted his squad.
“I don’t accept it. I’m not having that. I get that it has been a tough time for every football club in the world. I know they’ve played more games than anyone else but if you keep telling players they’re tired and they can’t play the amount of games they are eventually going to believe you.”
With Chelsea boasting one of the strongest squads in the league this season, Shearer believes that Tuchel has enough at his disposal to comfortably navigate a hectic schedule. The Blues already had a star-studded squad at their disposal and supplemented it last summer by adding Romelu Lukaku and Saul Niguez into the mix.
The Blues made a strong start to the season and were competing for neck and neck with rivals Liverpool and Manchester City, even topping the league table in early December. However, injuries and a Covid outbreak in the squad seems to have affected Tuchel’s title charge during the festive period, with defending champions City now comfortably in front of the pack.
Shearer responded to Tuchel’s claims about Chelsea players being fatigued of late and the coach granting them two days off, saying that with a squad like the Blues have at their disposal, it was a team struggling for confidence rather than fitness.
“That performance going forward was not a tired performance. That performance was a team that’s struggling for confidence and I’m not sure that they are all on the same page. That’s all that we are hearing nowadays. You can’t have sympathy for a football club like Chelsea when he’s effectively saying he hasn’t got enough players.”
Although Shearer may have a point in saying that Tuchel’s side has a burden of riches in squad depth and player quality, the former Premier League winner seems to have overlooked the fact that our side has been hampered by injuries and Covid a lot longer than most this season. Strong defences win titles, and Chelsea’s defensive injury crisis this season is a big reason why we have dropped off in the title race.
Shearer’s comments on Tuchel’s worries about fatigue and player welfare also come in poor taste. It is easy for anyone to see that we have been struggling to hit our usual heights and that the players seem overburdened and overworked at times. These harsh comments do no good to a side desperately looking for a confidence boost.
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Our player and manager do not need to pay any heed to Shearer’s comments but instead focus on recovering for the game against Tottenham Hotspur on the weekend. Tuchel has granted the squad a couple of days off in the build-up to the game against the Lilywhites, with the hope that the break gives the players some time to recharge and recover.
With games coming thick and fast, it is imperative that the morale remains high within the Blues squad. The London giants have a Carabao Cp final and the Club World Cup to compete in and cannot afford to let their guard down.
