Chelsea extended their winless Premier League run to four games and missed the chance to go second after drawing 1-1 with Brighton.
In yet another disappointing night for Chelsea, the Blues extended their winless Premier League run to four games and missed a chance to go second after drawing 1-1 with Brighton on Tuesday night.
The reigning European Champions fading title hopes suffered another setback after Hakim Ziyech's first-half goal was cancelled out by Brighton's stand-in skipper Adam Webster at the Amex Stadium.
Following the lacklustre show, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel blamed tiredness for their below-par performance against Brighton and desperately called for the need to 'recharge the batteries'. The Blues have spectacularly fallen out of contention recently, having now registered a win in just two of their nine top-flight outings.
Bemoaning Chelsea's hectic schedule, manager Thomas Tuchel added that he now plans to give players two days off ahead of Sunday's game against Tottenham Hotspurs at Stamford Bridge. Reiterating the club's poor league form is due to the long-term injuries, Covid-19 outbreak and pushing schedule, the German added, "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," Tuchel stated after the clash that saw the Blues struggle for cohesion and fluidity throughout their visit to Sussex.
Chelsea, who suffered a disappointing 1-0 weekend loss against leaders Manchester City, is now 12 points adrift the top Premier League spot and played one fixture more. Adding to their woes is a plethora of recent postponements that have left Arsenal and Tottenham with some games in hand in the battle for Champions League qualification.
Tuchel, who recently guided the Blues to the Carabao Cup final after registering crucial wins against Tottenham in the two-legged semi-final, insisted that the draw at Amex Stadium is not due to lack of ambition. He admitted that Brighton are a tough team to beat, even if one is not tired, and it is not easy for even other teams to get points against them at home. "There are some obstacles to overcome here, and I simply refuse to be angry; because it's not about the ambition," Tuchel said.
The Chelsea boss said that the team was lucky to get a 1-0 lead but struggled to put up a quality show in the second half of the game. "We demand a lot from us, but it's not the time to be too harsh," Tuchel concluded.
Meanwhile, Brighton boss Graham Potter will be a pleased man as the Seagulls remain ninth on the table following their 11th draw of a fruitful league campaign, which saw them lose only four times. However, Potter felt that with a bit of help from the 'football gods, ' his side could have taken all three points.
"We played with courage, with quality, intensity, everything you need to do against a top team. Sometimes the football gods are with you, sometimes they're not, and you have to accept that, but we gave ourselves a chance to win that, absolutely," Potter stated.