The
fallout from the failed launch of the Super League has dominated headlines
all week. It's dominated talk in Premier League dressing rooms, too. And, as
Thomas Tuchel honestly admits, it proved to be a damaging distraction on the
field for Chelsea as well.
The Blues boss was open and candid in an exclusive interview with Sky
Sports, where he explained the confusion caused by the scheme - and the
anger it had sparked in Chelsea fans who protested outside Stamford Bridge
on Tuesday - had affected him before, during, and after the goalless draw
with Brighton.
Tuchel revealed he decided to switch off from media in the following days,
in a bid to separate himself from the debate and discussions about the Super
League and refocus on football and Chelsea's crunch clash with top-four
rivals West Ham this Saturday evening.
"We had several talks [with the players] about it between Sunday and
Tuesday, honestly, which I don't know if it helped or if it did not help in
the end but I arrived in the stadium in a strange mix of feelings," he said.
"I was a bit annoyed, I was a bit angry, I was impatient, I was absolutely
not focused like I normally am on match days.
"It was a strange mix and I couldn't really get rid of it during the match
and after the match, so my medicine was to turn things off. I did not watch
any TV, I did not watch any news, any football, which is very unusual for
me.
"I talked enough about it and I'd heard enough about it and I knew we were
pulling out and I simply didn't want to see all the explanations, all the
thoughts, all the comments over and over again.
"So I decided not to speak again with the team [about the Super League after
Tuesday]. We did a normal post-match talk with them like usual but now I
feel like everybody has the possibility to focus like normal on a big match,
which is absolutely necessary, and from here, on we go."
For Tuchel, Tuesday was also his first real encounter with Chelsea
supporters en masse, with his entire tenure so far being played out behind
closed doors. "We felt their passion clearly," he said, reflecting on the
hundreds of fans who had gathered on the King's Road and blocked the team
coaches.
There is the prospect of Tuchel and his team feeling that passion close-up
again in the last weeks of this season, with fans set to be allowed in to
watch Premier League games and the FA Cup final, but until then the
connection will remain remote.
However, Chelsea's coach and players will be well aware of their fans'
support from afar as they negotiate a brutal but exciting run-in, with a
top-four battle and Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid coming up,
as well as that Wembley showdown with Leicester.
It's a testing time for players mentally and physically, with crucial games
coming thick and fast, but Tuchel says the environment at Chelsea's training
ground has the players prepared to deliver in decisive matches - and
besides, it comes with the territory of playing for a club such as Chelsea.
"I feel strongly that the more experienced guys here really love it, because
they're more used to it, to be long in several competitions and fight for
semi-finals and finals and fight until the last minute in the Premier
League," he said.
"The young players, they can be happy to have the privilege to be in a club
and fight and they have to adapt, there's no other way. We cannot protect
them from feeling the pressure because the pressure is always on if you play
for Chelsea. It's a nice thing and a thing to embrace for them, and this is
how I feel it.
"How do we prepare them? I strongly believe we prepare them on a daily
basis, how we work together, how we interact together, [create] a positive
atmosphere to encourage everybody. And don't forget, we have very positive
experiences now together in crucial moments, in big matches where we were
very strong, where we had positive results, so we have an inner belief with
which we arrive against West Ham."
Tuchel: Our forwards not meeting
goal-scoring expectations
Indeed, Chelsea have so far coped impressively with the challenge, with the
club losing just two of the 20 games Tuchel has been in charge of since
replacing Frank Lampard.
That success has been built on re-found defensive foundations, with Chelsea
racking up 15 clean sheets in 20 games, the best record of any major
European side during that period.
But at the other end of the pitch, there is room for improvement. There have
been just 17 goals in 13 Premier League games, and while Timo Werner's
struggles during his first season at the club have been well documented,
across the board Chelsea's players have been below par when it comes to
finding the net.
Jorginho, Mason Mount, and Tammy Abraham are their joint-top scorers in the
Premier League with six goals. It's a total nowhere near enough for a side
with the ambitions of Chelsea.
While Abraham's absence continues to be a topic of debate among supporters,
Tuchel insists he would welcome a goal-scoring run from the England man, or
any of his forwards, to boost their chances during these key final weeks of
the campaign. The German was quite clear in his message to his forwards: you
must score more.
"Tammy had a very good training week and he's very welcome to show his
quality," said Tuchel. "We need more goals and we rely on anybody and we
want to trust anybody who is capable of scoring.
"But you just need to read the numbers, our top scorers have six goals. This
is clearly not enough for the demands, the expectations and the targets
Chelsea football club has and what we demand.
"I say this without any anger and without being rude to any of the offensive
guys, I think they're very well aware of it. But when we put the goalkeeper
in goal for Chelsea we expect him to have a clean sheet. When we let the
defenders play, we expect them to produce clean sheets and the best possible
outcome straight away. And this is what we expect from the midfielders, we
expect passing percentage, we expect the rhythm of the game. And when we put
strikers in we expect goals and assists and nothing else.
"This is one of the most challenging clubs in European football, and if the
challenge is on you simply need to accept that we didn't produce the kind of
numbers that we expect from our strikers. This explains a little bit the
situation in which we are. We don't struggle to have touches in the
opponent's box, we do not struggle to produce Expected Goals but we need to
improve on the conversion, this is clear.
"We try to create even more chances for them to have more clear chances…
don't get me wrong they are clearly part of a very successful team and they
play their role also in defence and counter-pressing. But still sometimes we
wait a little bit for somebody to catch the momentum, and score game after
game after game after game, which could be an extraordinary help.
"But it does not help to wish for something that does not exist, so we try
to make the most of the situation as it is now but this is the pressure you
live up to naturally when you sign up for Chelsea."
No more distractions
The pressure will be on against West Ham on Saturday. And then again against
Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.
But Tuchel, who won the treble in France last season while steering Paris
Saint-Germain to the final of the Champions League, says the key is to focus
on the immediate challenge.
"I have absolutely learned to not get distracted, as a coach this is the
main thing," he said.
"Sometimes it's a bit difficult for the players but I have the feeling that
there is a huge game now, against a direct opponent, and that takes, very
naturally, the 100 per cent focus from us.
"I did not spend one minute to analyse Real Madrid so far. I don't even know
what we need there, what type of players. I will dive into that from Sunday
on.
"I don't want to give nobody the sign we rest players. In the situation in
which we arrive now, in a crucial run in the league and semi-final of
Champions League and final of an FA Cup, every game matters and for
difficult questions you search for the easy solution, which means putting
the best team out, that you trust for this moment, and after the game you
accept there's a new challenge coming.
"If you get distracted by thinking too much up front, you just lose your
focus."
Tuchel has already experienced what that feels like this week. And he's
determined to make the same mistake again.
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