Thomas Tuchel has claimed his own Chelsea side are “not competitive” in their current state in the wake of a 4-0 pre-season drubbing at the hands of Arsenal.
The Blues looked way off the pace against the Gunners in Orlando and Tuchel was left seething both at the players on the pitch but also those above him in the Chelsea hierarchy. The German even went as far to suggest his squad is not yet ready for the start of the Premier League season in just under two weeks.
“I can not guarantee it [that they will be ready]. I saw today a team in Arsenal who are mentally committed to an idea of playing, a level of exhaustion, a level of physical commitment that we could not match.”
As things stand, Chelsea have brought in just two additions so far this window in the form of ex-Manchester City star Raheem Sterling and former Napoli stalwart Kalidou Koulibaly but Tuchel wants more – as he made clear after the game.
“We had an urgent appeal for quality players. We signed two quality players, but we are not competitive like this. It’s the same players,” Tuchel explained.
“We will see hopefully development but at the moment, we have the same issues because we have the same players.”
While incomings are evidently at the forefront of his mind, outgoings are arguably an even greater problem at Stamford Bridge at the moment given the amount of Chelsea players trying to force through exits before the window closes on September 1.
This is also something Tuchel touched on, claiming some players may have been suffering from a lack of “mental commitment.”
Club captain Cesar Azpilicueta and left-back Marcos Alonso both want to up sticks to Barcelona, winger Hakim Ziyech has his heart set on a move to AC Milan while Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic both feel they deserve more regular game time.
All of these feelings transmitted onto the pitch against Mikel Arteta’s men according to Tuchel, who said: “A level of mental commitment that we lacked because we have a lot of players who are thinking about leaving and looking at their options. We have players that have left and I think at the moment that’s obvious.”
Chelsea have long been linked with a move for Sevilla defender Jules Kounde in a bid to bolster their current options at the back. It remains unclear who is actually leading the race for the Frenchman’s signature between the Blues and Barcelona.
Tuchel’s side sent an offer of £55million to the Spanish outfit, but there is still seemingly plenty of work to be done before the Stamford Bridge faithful can look forward to seeing Kounde line up in west London.
