Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has admitted that he felt it ‘necessary’ to take over the team meeting following their latest defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League. It’s been a disappointing two games for Chelsea since returning from the international break.
Tuchel’s side suffered a shock 4-1 defeat to Brentford last weekend before shipping three goals in a 3-1 defeat to Real on Wednesday. Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick as the La Liga outfit took a huge lead heading into the second leg at the Bernabeu next week.
It’s the first time Chelsea have lost back-to-back games since September, but more worrying has been the amount of goals conceded. Since Tuchel took over at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have been one of the hardest teams to break down in the Premier League.
But recently results saw Chelsea hold a team meeting this week with Tuchel admitting that he stopped the players from speaking up as usual in order to get his own point across.
“It wasn’t a discussion type of meeting yesterday,” Tuchel said. “I gave my point of view that is sometimes necessary.
“We take the players view into account but we thought that after the last two games, it’s necessary to give our point of view. We lacked structure in the last game. Normally, that is our big strength.
“That was not the case and it was a big problem because we lacked the rhythm of our attacking. We were not in the places we were supposed to be when counter-pressing and we lacked intensity and investment in defending. This was more or less what we saw.
“We figured it out in details. It’s not about general critcism, it’s about details. I love the players and the group. We can be better together.”
Chelsea will be hoping for better fortune this weekend when they take on Southampton before the return leg against Real. The Blues still hold a healthy cushion to those battling for a top-four spot just behind them, but more poor results could soon see them slip down.
Tottenham and Arsenal are both five points behind Chelsea, although Antonio Conte’s side have played one more game.
