Thomas Tuchel reportedly took responsibility in private for Chelsea’s terrible performance against Arsenal yesterday.
According to the Independent, Tuchel ‘mostly blamed himself’ for the 4-2 defeat his side suffered at Stamford Bridge last night.
Blunders all over from the Blues
Fingers can probably be pointed in the German’s direction for certain team selections he made for the London derby.
He decided to start Malang Sarr next to Andreas Christensen and Reece James in defence, a largely untried and untested trio.
Antonio Rudiger’s absence played a large part in this call, although Thiago Silva was readily available on the bench.
However, it didn’t take long for Silva to enter the fray, as he replaced Christensen at half-time following a pretty dismal display from the Dane.
It was his mistake that led to Arsenal’s opener, simultaneously teeing up Chelsea for a disastrous evening.
Tuchel cannot accept culpability for these type of errors, ones that continued to occur throughout the contest.
Arsenal’s third goal arrived thanks to an ugly scramble in the box that Eddie Nketiah eventually finished off.
Cesar Azpilicueta’s foul on Bukayo Saka inside the area with time almost up was totally inexcusable.
Yet, the Chelsea boss has the right to regret his XI.
Did Tuchel get his team wrong?
Away from the back-line, the midfield duo of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and N’Golo Kante never really looked like working.
Again, Tuchel’s hands were pretty tied in this department, following the injury to Mateo Kovacic in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend.
Picking Romelu Lukaku over Kai Havertz also turned out to be a poor roll of the dice.
Resting Havertz was understandable considering the number of minutes he’s played recently.
Plus, Lukaku’s last outing against Arsenal was certainly a joyous one.
Yet, perhaps a more mobile forward like Christian Pulisic, or a creator in Hakim Ziyech, would’ve been better suited to their opponents’ low block.
Hindsight is a wonderful gift.
CLICK HERE TO COMMENT
