Thomas Tuchel gives his verdict after Chelsea won 1-0 against Everton
Thomas Tuchel was a happy man after the full-time whistle. His side got off to a perfect start winning 1-0 against Everton on the opening matchday of the new season. But he has said that they are not on their top level yet.
Jorginho was the scorer as the ever-reliable man converted the penalty after Ben Chilwell was brought down in the Everton half. Raheem Sterling appeared to have scored on his debut only for it to be ruled offside.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, Tuchel was full of praises for the players, especially the new debuts. Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella all made their debuts on Saturday. But he also said that the players still need to improve
“A win is a win is a win and of course it’s very important to build now confidence, to build up belief, to build up an atmosphere. But also we must be open for improvement, open for criticism, because there are a lot of things to improve.”
Sterling led the line with Kai Havertz and Mason Mount while Ben Chilwell and Reece James started on the wing-backs. Marcos Alonso was dropped from the squad and Tuchel confirmed what looks like an imminent departure of the Spaniard.
“That is the case, he tries to leave and we agreed to this switch and that’s why it would not have made sense to put him on the pitch today.”
Conor Gallagher also played his first match in the Chelsea shirt today and was impressive. Armando Broja, who spent last season on loan also saw action on the night for Chelsea. The 20-year-old Albanian did not get the chance to impress Tuchel during the pre-season but certainly did so at Goodison Park.
Edouard Mendy was once again phenomenal in goal as the Senegal international made some quite good saves. The two clubs played with a very similar set-up, so one-vs-one was very common throughout the game. This was Chelsea’s first win at Goodison Park since April 2017, having failed to beat the Toffees on four previous occasions.
Tuchel was also happy with the clean sheet that the team managed to keep. An overall good performance, the team lacked a bit of confidence in the final third. Maybe because it was the first game or the atmosphere, Chelsea could have won the game with more goals.
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But a win is a win and fans will hope that this is the prelude for good things to come. Tuchel will hope to build on this performance and prepare for the next game. Chelsea welcome Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge for a derby game next Sunday.
