MY ACCOUNT
Thomas Tuchel’s extended honeymoon period at Chelsea is well and truly over.
The first 10 months of the German’s reign were serene as the Blues won the Champions League and looked set to mount a Premier League title challenge this term.
But dropped points, poor performances and unhappy players have made for an uncomfortable few weeks at Stamford Bridge.
After a 1-1 draw at Brighton last night made it four league games without a win, we look at what has gone wrong for Tuchel’s Blues.
Poor run
There are plenty of stats that paint just how badly Chelsea have dropped off, both recently and over a longer period.
The Blues have won one more league game than Norwich and eight fewer than Manchester City since the start of November.
They have dropped 16 points from their past 10 outings, including picking up just three points from their past four clashes since a Boxing Day win at Aston Villa.
Fixtures against Liverpool and City after the turn of the year were never going to be easy — but teams with genuine chances of winning the league know they must pick up more than one point from them.
Speaking last night, BBC pundit and former England international Karen Carney said: “There was something not quite right. The energy is not quite right.
“Thomas Tuchel is trying to shout tactics and I think they can hear it but can’t do it right now for whatever reason, and then he is frustrated.”
Tuchel tiredness
There are mitigating factors for Chelsea, who have played more football than any other Premier League side.
They have completed 23 of their 38 league games, which is five more than Tottenham or Leicester and six more than Burnley.
None of their games have been postponed due to coronavirus despite cases in the squad and, having made the Carabao Cup final on top of their European commitments, they have not had a week off since the November international break.
Tuchel feels tiredness is killing his team: “If you look at our schedule, look at where we come from, we struggle with it.
“When you’re tired — mentally and physically — you have a lack of position and a lack of focus. You can see it in our game but we know where it comes from.
“I can even feel it myself. At some point you sit on the bus and think ‘where are we going?’.
“You have to refocus and think where are we going, when are we there, which time do we play and when is the next meeting?
“It’s like this since November. We are the team that plays and plays and plays so you feel it, of course.”
Discontent
Tiredness cannot be the only excuse, though. There seems a certain level of discontent in the dressing room.
Romelu Lukaku’s infamous interview upset the apple cart and he has still not caught fire since returning, while Hakim Ziyech refused to celebrate his opener last night.
On top of that, there are contract issues surrounding Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen.
The Blues sold a number of academy products in the summer, deeming them not up to scratch for Tuchel’s squad.
But what they would give for Tammy Abraham’s goals, Fikayo Tomori’s commitment at the back or even Kurt Zouma as cover right now.
Turning it around
Now Tuchel must work out how to stop the rot at the Bridge and get Chelsea back to their best.
It is the January transfer window and the club could opt to invest — but there is not a lack of quality in the squad.
Abraham, Tomori, Zouma and Olivier Giroud were sold because the club had plenty of alternative options.
Tuchel has opted to give his players two days off ahead of their game with Spurs to “recharge the batteries and come back with hunger”.
But with the Club World Cup to come in February, their relentless schedule shows no sign of letting up.
With Arsenal nine points behind with three games in hand and Spurs 11 with five, Carney fears the Blues need to look over their shoulder, rather than up.
She said: “I think Chelsea are looking behind them now and thinking ‘can we keep in this top four?’
“Manchester City are so far beyond them. Chelsea are not in the title race. They need to see a bit of application now to make sure they can get Champions League football.
“They need to go away for a period of reflection and return to that clean-sheet mentality.”
With a difficult game against Spurs to come this weekend, Tuchel needs to refresh and rejuvenate his squad quickly.
