11 goals in 3 home games: Angry Chelsea boss Tuchel blames Stamford Bridge pitch, flawed tactics
FollowThomas Tuchel hit out the state of the pitch, fumed at his error-strewn team and sympathised with angry fans as Chelsea crumbled to a third home defeat in a row.
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It was a night of horror for Chelsea, and its fans after the Blues suffered a 4-2 defeat against Arsenal in their Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge. Following this loss, manager Thomas Tuchel lashed out at the state of the pitch and blamed flawed tactics as the west London club crumbled to a third home defeat in a row.
Also read: Chelsea supporters demand Christensen to be sent to Barcelona after Arsenal horror
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"You cannot win football games like this," snapped Tuchel after conceding 11 goals in three home games. "It's impossible to do these things in consecutive matches, and we're doing it. You don't see this, but we're doing it at the moment."
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The German insisted it was not down to the absence of Toni Rudiger, who was ruled out by injury. "We conceded seven goals with Toni against Brentford and Real Madrid. It's not about individual players. It's about the defensive performance," Tuchel added.
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"You need to have the tactics right, which is doubtful if I had this right. You need the team selection right. Also doubtful if I had this right. Then it's a game for the players. They get the full praise when they do it, and they have to face the reality that it's impossible to win matches like this if you make this amount of mistakes of this calibre. It has to stop," the Chelsea boss stated.
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Wednesday's game was a nightmare for Andreas Christensen, who was at fault for the first goal after failing to get a good connection when trying to pass back to goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. Eddie Nketiah, lurking just behind the Danish player, could latch onto the loose ball and put fire Arsenal ahead.
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The 26-year-old centre-back's woes continued as he struggled during the rest of the half, as Chelsea came from behind twice with goals from Timo Wener and Cesar Azpilicueta. Without Antonio Rudiger or Thiago Silva in the starting line-up, the Blues struggled in the first half of the clash giving away two goals to the Gunners. Tuchel decided to change things up at half-time as he brought experienced Silva on for Christensen.
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"He (Christensen) said he cannot continue," said Tuchel. "I do not substitute a player for one mistake. The pitch is difficult to play here, maybe it sounds like an excuse, but it is a very difficult pitch here, not to our favour. The ball bounces very awkwardly in front of Andreas, but still we had the same mistake against Real Madrid that cost us the next round in the Champions League. This one cost us this match."
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"Look at the penalty, an unbelievable goal from our ball possession. There are no tactics behind it. We have three ball losses in 10 seconds and then a foul where there's not even the slightest danger, and rob ourselves of six minutes maybe for the equaliser. There is nothing to analyse. It must be something. But obviously it's possible to not do it because we proved it, and we thought we'd learned our lesson from Brentford and Real Madrid but obviously not," the Chelsea boss concluded.
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Despite the change, Arsenal went ahead for the third time in the game with a second from Nketiah, followed by a penalty strike from Bukayo Saka. There is no clarity if Arsenal will extend Nketiah's contract this summer. Still, the striker has undoubtedly earned the right to retain his place for Saturday's crucial clash against Manchester United. This game now offers the Gunner the chance to seize the initiative from Tottenham Hotspur in the top-four race.
