DBasia.news – The performance of the defending champions of the Champions League, Chelsea is currently in the spotlight. Not because they had a minor period and lost in a row, but because of their inconsistency in playing.
In their last four matches in all competitions Chelsea have drawn twice, lost once and won once against West Ham United (2-3), Zenit Saint Petersburg (3-3), Leeds United (3-2) and Everton (1-1).
The latest result against Everton has made Chelsea drop to third place in the standings. Chelsea’s distance with two Premier League title contenders Manchester City and Liverpool is still relatively close, but the inconsistency of their play worries fans.
N’Golo Kante’s injury is believed to be one factor in the uncertainty of Chelsea’s performance, plus a fragile defense. However, Thomas Tuchel, the Chelsea manager, sees it differently.
The German manager focuses more on the character and attitude of Chelsea’s players, especially when they are already in a superior position. When that happened, Chelsea were often caught off guard to give the opponent the momentum to equalize.
“Maybe we forgot why we were the better team because the investment, concentration, level of physical investment was not high enough to become a better team,” Tuchel told Standard Sports.
“Once this went down, once we started managing the results, we got punished. It happened at West Ham and today. But the reaction came back good and it showed me that it’s not about what we can do, but because we can do it.”
“My analysis is very clear. Our behavior changes when we have leads and this is something we never do and should never do. We do the things we want to do at the highest level and we push ourselves until it hurts and it has to hurt.”
“You have to be exhausted in the first half and completely exhausted. You have to play through the physical pain and increase the level of concentration and overcome the difficulties. Without all of this, if you change your behavior for a result, you leave the possibility of being punished.”
“If you are unlucky, like we are at the moment, then it can happen to you. The challenge is to close the door and minimize the possibilities. It’s very easy, we need a higher rate of sprints, a higher rate of running, intensity and concentration.”
“These are the basics and the basics need to be pushed to a higher level as we lead. It can’t go down just because we’re leading and this is what’s happening to us at the moment. It’s not the big picture, but that’s how it is.”