MY ACCOUNT
Thomas Tuchel lamented “the same story as always” as his disjointed Chelsea side fell to a surprise 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
The Blues have been off the pace in the Premier League and their underwhelming start to the season continued on Wednesday as Mislav Orsic’s first-half goal proved the difference.
Orsic poked past Kepa Arrizabalaga after escaping the attentions of new arrival Wesley Fofana, with Chelsea unable to break down a resolute Dinamo defence in the second half.
That resulted in a third straight away defeat for the first time under Tuchel, with the Blues last suffering such a run under Frank Lampard in December 2020.
Tuesday’s visit to Croatia was Tuchel’s 100th game in charge of Chelsea; in his first 50 matches they only conceded 24 times, while in his last 50 they have shipped 53 goals.
Tuchel provided an honest appraisal, acknowledging his team’s failings as he suggested they are far from their usual capabilities.
“It’s an underperformance from us. We have the same story as always,” he told BT Spot.
“We have an OK start, we don’t finish our half chances, we don’t feel it when the game is already there to put to bed in the first 15, 20 minutes.
“Then we concede one counter-attack, which is far too easy, and from there we struggled.”
Asked to pinpoint his main frustration, Tuchel added: “Too much to analyse. I’m a part of it. We are clearly not there, where we need to be and where we can be.
“So it’s on me, it’s on us, we need to find solutions. At the moment, everything is missing.”
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made his debut after his arrival from Barcelona but failed to leave his mark, not managing a shot on his first Blues outing and enjoying just three touches in the Dinamo area, although he did have a goal disallowed for offside.
“I will not talk about individuals today. We play as a team, we lose as a team,” Tuchel said before somewhat agreeing his players failed to step up, adding: “If it seems like this… it’s hard to argue against it.”
Chelsea will look to recover when they visit Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, before their next European outing at home to Salzburg four days later.
