Thomas Tuchel claims that the problems will only increase for Chelsea if they play despite Covid-19 concerns
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, as quoted by the club’s official website, Thomas Tuchel revealed that Chelsea will only suffer more problems if we continue playing despite the rising Covid-19 cases.
The German boss has made his frustration clear with the Premier League and the English FA in recent weeks. Despite the number of Covid-19 concerns in our squad, Chelsea have been forced to go ahead with their games.
The result of it has been two successive draws against Everton and Wolves. However, one would have thought that the Carabao Cup tie against Brentford on Wednesday would have been postponed. But it is apparently going ahead, with Chelsea having seven players out with the disease; not to mention, the rest of the squad is filled with fatigued individuals and key stars that are returning from injury or isolation.
Tuchel made his feelings clear on the matter before facing Brentford on Wednesday.
‘First of all, it’s 10 days out, it’s not like having little injuries or a little concern, and you’re out for one match…We did it at Wolverhampton, but we took huge risks with some of those players, and now we are paying for it.
‘They cannot start three matches in one week. It is simply not possible. So, the problem will increase, the situation will increase, and we cannot let players suffer because other players are not there. So, at some point, it will catch us, and it will backfire on us.’
Maddening decision
The Blues could be without nearly 10 first-team stars on Wednesday. The youth have been called up to first-team training recently but even they can only do so much. Taking on a high-intensity team like Brentford is no easy feat, but we are being forced into playing our reserves.
10 Premier League matches were called off last week but somehow Chelsea did not make the cut. The lack of a criterion to postpone games is a massive issue because the clubs that are forced to play feel hard done by. After all, it costs crucial points at the end of the day.
However, on Wednesday, we could lose out on a semi-final berth in the EFL Cup. Thus, it seems like only those teams that do not suffer from the disease shall win the major trophies this season. It is a survival of the fittest rather than a level playing field- or at least that’s what it must feel like to most of our fans.
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There needs to be some accountability by the FA on the matters concerning the postponement of games. Tuchel sent out a message on the weekend by only naming six players on his bench. But he shall have no option but to field an inexperienced starting XI in the mid-week tie. The buck has to stop with somebody, and something has to give soon before our entire squad is suffering issues, after which the only alternative would be to boycott games.
