Thomas Tuchel says he refuses to get angry or frustrated with the players after yet another lacklustre performance.
Chelsea are going through a bad run there are no two ways about it, and whilst we are not in crisis level, things need to vastly improve.
It would be amazing if you guys subscribed for my project over at Si & Dan Talk Chelsea, where we are putting out so much Chelsea content including DAILY Newsletters, exclusive news, breaking news, Podcasts, interviews, inside information, and bringing in some massive guests!
The players have been struggling with fatigue in recent games, Tuchel is right to pick up on that and highlight it. But there are many more issues than that, like for one the players lack real quality, and they often looked like they gave up last night. Whether that is down to fatigue or not is more than questionable, and unfortunately it wont wash because this is a results based business and Chelsea right now, are not getting results, plus playing poorly.
Tuchel covered a lot at the end of the game via the Chelsea website, but he also confirms the players will have two days rest now ahead of the Spurs match on Sunday.
“I refuse to be angry because it’s not about the ambition or that we don’t want it,” he said.
“We were a bit lucky to be 1-0 ahead and you can take advantage of it, score a second one, but we struggled to show the quality and we know the reasons behind it. Of course we demand a lot from us but this is not the moment to be too harsh on the team.
“I am so happy that we have at least four days. Look at our last week and you know what I am talking about. Within seven days we had three away games. It’s not only about playing, it’s about travelling, it’s about not sleeping and we don’t do this one week and complain. We don’t complain now, it is just to explain why the performance can look sometimes like this in the middle of January in an away game at Brighton.
“This can happen and if you tell me this never happened to any team in the Premier League before I can only laugh. We do this since November so we arrive in a game where we don’t reach our full potential, okay, welcome to reality. You cannot be surprised. We want more, we want to do better, but in the end we have to accept it. Okay, we take a draw and we go. We tried everything, we tried hard, but it’s a certain level of fatigue that you can feel.
“We weren’t able to press home the advantage after our goal because we are tired. We are mentally tired and physically tired and you can see it in our performance. It’s as easy as that.
“They need this rest so badly. You can say it’s an excuse or whatever but it’s like this, look at our schedule. When we arrived at Man City, we had a Carabao Cup game before and they did not. Now we arrive here, they had more days to prepare, they had a whole week to prepare before.
“We play since November, the team that plays and plays and plays and plays. We need to recharge the batteries and we need to disconnect. This is my feeling, this is why we give the players two days off and then we will prepare for two days. We will use Friday and Saturday to prepare for Sunday because then it’s the next game against Tottenham.”
