Thomas Tuchel depending on Dujon Sterling to deal with Rudiger's exit.
Speaking ahead of the game against West Ham as quoted by Football London, Thomas Tuchel has clarified his comments on the Stamford Bridge pitch against Arsenal and explained the issues his team faced.
Chelsea lost 2-4 to London rivals Arsenal in the Premier League midweek with goals from Timo Werner and Cesar Azpilicueta not enough to see the Blues overcome the Gunners.
After the game against Mikel Arteta’s men, Thomas Tuchel criticised the pitch at Stamford Bridge for not being conducive to Chelsea’s style of play with the manager blaming it as a reason for the defeat.
Speaking ahead of their clash against David Moyes’ side, the German manager clarified his comments and explained a particular incident to quote why he thought the pitch was not in the best possible condition.
“I don’t know, I am not a specialist on it. I said it because the first goal was a mistake from Andreas (Christensen), but the mistake was because of a funny bounce of the ball, and we had more of them in the game. It was a bit awkward to play and calculate the speed and bounce of the ball.”
When asked if he thought the issues with the pitch was because of the restrictions in place due to Roman Abramovich’s sanctions, Tuchel said that it was also because of his high demands as a manager.
“No, no. The demands are high from the manager – that’s a bit the problem. We were struggling a little bit with the timing of the renewal [of the pitch] this season, and then this leads to a bit of the problem. The pitch was not where it should and could be at the beginning of the season. We saw it and felt it when we had away matches. That’s why. This one was a funny bounce given to the quality of the pitch at this moment, and that cost us.”
The Blues, for all their might have been extremely inconsistent over the past few weeks, especially since the last International break.
Losses to Brentford and Real Madrid were followed by exhilarating performances against Southampton and yet again, Real Madrid and Crystal Palace and then the defeat to Arsenal. Such inconsistency will not help Chelsea in their pursuit of a top-four spot.
Faltering at the wrong time, the Blues have already failed in their Champions League title defence. They have also lost the finals of the Carabao Cup to Liverpool and face a rematch against the same opponents in the FA Cup final.
It is not very clear as to why a side who have been remarkably consistent under the German manager since his arrival to Stamford Bridge have started shipping so many goals and losing matches at a dangerous frequency.
Tuchel will have to iron out the flaws and make his Chelsea machine working properly yet again. If they do not get back to their best, even a top-4 spot which seems fairly comfortable for the Blues at the moment could end up in danger for the London club.
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