The Blues manager boss has claimed that his players were tired going into Tuesday’s Premier League encounter game against Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex, which ended in a 1-1 draw. The German explained that his men needed some rest following a few weeks of constant football.
The Seagulls dominated their opposition, as they indulged in a beautiful passing game that has in recent times become the signature of the Graham Potter-coached side. It was a thorough bossing in midfield from Brighton, who managed to keep N’Golo Kante and Jorginho quiet for most of the match.
Chelsea seemed a shade of themselves, as has been the case in the last few weeks, as they played a very passive and lazy game. Nevertheless, they managed to take the lead in the first half after Moroccan winger Hakim Ziyech’s brilliant strike managed to squeeze through the near post and Robert Sanchez.
Chelsea’s delight, however, was shortlived, as a header from the unmarked Adam Webster restored parity in the encounter, which eventually finished 1-1.
Asked about his side’s performance post-match, Thomas Tuchel cited injuries and Covid as the contributing factors behind their recent debacle.
“I answered this question a hundred times, if you look at our situation of long-term injuries, of key players injured, and of Covid and you look at our schedule you will have the answer.”
Tuchel felt that his players needed a few off-days in order to rejuvenate themselves and continue their bid for the top two spots, which now seems a long way off, with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City playing some brilliant football, comfortably sitting at the top, 11 points ahead of second-placed Liverpool.
“We are mentally tired and physically tired, you can see it in our performance, it’s as easy as that. We need to recharge the batteries, we need to reconnect.This is my feeling, that’s why I give the players two days off and then we will use Friday and Saturday to prepare for Sunday.”
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He also blamed the hectic schedule for the drop in performance, with some Covid-related cancellations also adding to the German’s frustrations.
“Look at our schedule when we arrived at Man City, we had Carabao Cup in between, they did not. When we arrived here, they had more days to prepare. We’ve played like this since November, we are the team that plays and plays and plays.”
Tuchel was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
The dip in form comes at an unfortunate time for the Blues, as they are due to compete against bitter rivals Spurs, who have a massive five games in hand, adding to Chelsea’s fears of even slipping out of the top four.
