Chelsea FC’s 4-2 home defeat to Arsenal once again raises many questions. Thomas Tuchel looked perplexed after the game – and also blamed himself.
Chelsea FC seemed to be back on top of the world in terms of form, after a small dip with home defeats against Brentford (1:4) and Real Madrid (1:3), they had three victories recently – but none of them in front of their home crowd. On Wednesday evening, the Blues returned to Stamford Bridge at home, but showed a face again against Arsenal FC, leaving Thomas Tuchel miffed.
Against the Gunners it was down to many things. But the fact that Stamford Bridge was not sold out due to crowd restrictions and only season ticket holders and visiting fans were allowed to attend was only a side note. The Blues lacked the right attitude against an opponent for whom there was much more at stake. “We thought we could get through with 80 per cent, and I don’t know why,” Tuchel said on the Sky microphone, looking dismayed and even perplexed by the past 90 minutes.
The lack of 20 per cent was compounded by hair-raising individual mistakes, Arsenal were invited to score goals. First, Andreas Christensen’s far too short back pass was punished by Eddie Nketiah, before slapstick in the defence put the Gunners back in the lead in the second half. The game was rounded off by a clumsy foul in the penalty area by Cesar Azpilicueta on Bukayo Saka. “We scored five goals ourselves out of the six that went in. I can’t remember us being gifted goals like that this season,” was Tuchel’s damning verdict.
“Should have brought on players who still have something to prove “
But the 48-year-old also took himself to task, saying he had spent a long time fiddling with the line-up but ultimately opted for the wrong personnel in some cases. “The tactical solutions were not optimal. It was dramatically reminiscent of the last home games. I should have fielded players who perhaps still had something to prove themselves,” Tuchel did not mention any names, but he was probably referring to defender Malang Sarr as well as Romelu Lukaku, who had played from the start for the first time since 19 February.
All in all, it led to a performance that Tuchel repeatedly described as “wild as a bird”, but which remains without consequences in the table for the time being. Chelsea look set to finish the season in third place, five points clear of Tottenham and Arsenal with one game more to play. However, with their current form in front of their home crowd, the Blues should not be too confident, especially as West Ham come to Stamford Bridge on Sunday (3pm).
