Thomas Tuchel has said he cannot guarantee Chelsea will be ready for their first Premier League game of the season in less than two weeks, and that they need more signings to become competitive.
Thomas Tuchel has said he cannot guarantee Chelsea will be ready for their first Premier League game of the season in less than two weeks, and that they need more signings to become competitive
Chelsea were thrashed 4-0 by Arsenal in Orlando on Saturday in the final match of their pre-season tour to the US, with Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, and Albert Sambi Lokonga all scoring for Mikel Arteta’s side. Kalidou Koulibaly — the Senegal defender signed from Napoli for £33.8m — made his first appearance for the club as a second-half substitute, while Chelsea have also brought in Raheem Sterling from Manchester City this summer.
But asked whether his squad was in desperate need of reinforcements before they face Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday week, Tuchel admitted they are still short.
“I am far from relaxed,” he said. “We were simply not good enough. We were simply not competitive. I look at the last season and parts of the game where we struggled, parts of the season where we struggled, and then we got sanctioned and players left us and some players are trying to leave us, and this is where it is. So we had an urgent appeal for quality players, a huge amount of quality players. We got two quality players but we are not competitive like this. Unfortunately you could see it today.”
The new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly was in the crowd at Camping World Stadium and saw his side ripped apart by their London rivals as Arsenal took a 3-0 lead midway through the second half. Tuchel described the 31-year-old Koulibaly as “the best player on the pitch for us” after he came on in the 71st minute, although the German questioned his team’s mentality.
“The worrying part is that the level of commitment physically and mentally for this match was far higher for Arsenal than for us,” Tuchel said.
The new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly was in the crowd at Camping World Stadium and saw his side ripped apart by their London rivals as Arsenal took a 3-0 lead midway through the second half. Tuchel described the 31-year-old Koulibaly as “the best player on the pitch for us” after he came on in the 71st minute, although the German questioned his team’s mentality.
“The worrying part is that the level of commitment physically and mentally for this match was far higher for Arsenal than for us,” Tuchel said.
After beating the Mexican side Club America 2-1 and losing on penalties against the Major League Soccer side Charlotte FC, Chelsea will play one more friendly against Udinese on Friday to complete their pre-season schedule. The France defender Jules Kounde is expected to become their third summer signing after agreeing a fee of £55m for the 23-year-old.
Yet Tuchel was dismissive when it was suggested his side may be able to compete with Manchester City and Liverpool for the Premier League title this season. “Given our last two weeks, our game today, we should not mention the two teams in front of us. We got absolutely beaten by a team that does not play Champions League football next season and finished behind us. But at the moment, they seem far ahead of us.”
Meanwhile Diogo Dalot has admitted that Manchester United players must be ready to “hear things we don’t want to” from the new manager, Erik ten Hag.
The defender started United’s three wins and a draw on the two-week summer tour of Thailand and Australia. Ten Hag was unhappy after his side let slip a 2-0 lead against Aston Villa at half-time in the friendly game in Perth on Saturday, with Calum Chambers’s added-time equaliser coming as David de Gea and the goalkeeper’s defence switched off.
Erik ten Hag’s side drew 2-2 with Aston Villa in Perth on Saturday night.
Ten Hag revealed afterwards that he had told the players this loss of focus was “unacceptable” and the Dutchman has previously been blunt with the squad. Dalot believes this is essential if United are going to bounce back from their disastrous campaign last season that ended in sixth place, 35 points behind the champions, Manchester City.
“It is discipline,” the Portugal international said. “We need to be ready for that, to be ready to hear things that maybe we don’t want to hear – everything is for the greater good of the team and that’s the most important thing.”
Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to train under Ten Hag because of a family issue, with the striker wanting to leave the club.
