Tired minds. Big mistakes. Unfit players. It’s an unwanted concoction for Chelsea at a time where Premier League title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City are hitting their stride.
The first point of concern was an admission from midfielder Mason Mount. He may have recorded a goal and an assist for the second match in a row, but ultimately “tired minds and tired bodies” led to a 3-2 defeat at West Ham as Chelsea dropped to third by the end of Saturday.
This fatigue has yielded said mistakes. After Jorginho’s error at Old Trafford and Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s at Vicarage Road, this time around at London Stadium it was goalkeeper Eduardo Mendy most at fault, gifting West Ham a first-half penalty before failing to keep out Arthur Masuaku’s late cross-turned-winner.
For Tuchel it is an issue that must be corrected quickly with another seven matches this month. However, despite picking up four points in a quick burst of games where Manchester City and Liverpool have collected nine, he does not view these individual lapses as a long-term problem.
“It’s details,” he said. “You can always solve the details. No need to question the big picture or have major doubts. Against United, Watford, and today, it was obvious. It was about details.
“That’s why I think we can sort it out straight away. Nobody wants to do mistakes, and we can’t just say ‘hey don’t do mistakes’, but we need to be better in crucial moments to be able to have clean sheets or concede a maximum of one.”
Nor does Tuchel want to lay too much blame on Mendy. After all this was just the third match under the German where Chelsea have conceded more than once. And for the record, that’s after 53 games.
“I don’t see why we should have major doubts with ‘Edu’,” Tuchel added. “Every ‘keeper will have tough days, and sometimes they are in the spotlight because you are in an exposed position. Every mistake, every decision-making moment where you struggle is so obvious.
“That environment of finger-pointing, we don’t want this to happen. He is crucial to us in our defensive performance. On his best day we would have won, but we have to be there for him.”
And so we come to unfit players. This is perhaps the most troublesome issue for Tuchel, who stressed he is unsure when N’Golo Kante will return, has Mateo Kovacic out as well, and said Jorginho has been playing with hip pain the past few matchdays. “And you can see it,” the Chelsea boss noted.
Tuchel also took the blame for replacing Kai Havertz with an undercooked Romelu Lukaku at half-time. “This is my fault, he’s not ready for 45 minutes. I brought him on for his height. Kai had a problem defending set pieces, so this is on me. I took the decision, it’s my responsibility.”
Lukaku ended the second half with just the one shot off target, and there was a hint of irony to the fact he proved so ineffectual while Masuaku ended up scoring the winner.
Ably sung to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September”, the Hammers chant goes thus. “Oyy-ohh, Arthur Masuaku… Oyy-ohh, he’s better than Lukaku.”
A song that gets stuck in your head, and a chant which could be heard as the euphoric home fans made their way home from the Olympic Park towards Stratford – via the countless bars between stadium and station. Spirits are high and the belief is back at West Ham. And why not, after a mini-blip of one point from three games, this derby win keeps Arsenal and Tottenham at bay and reignites the top-four dream.
Can they do it, Mr Moyes? “We’re in a better position than we were last season,” the West Ham manager said. “The target is to get closer to the top teams.” On Saturday’s showing, they are doing just that.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3IoauDW
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