Shell-shocked Thomas Tuchel admits 5-2 defeat by West Brom is a ‘big wake-up call for everyone’ at Chelsea but insists he will get the ‘right response’ going into Champions League quarter-final clash with Porto
- Defender Thiago Silva saw red before the half-hour for two bookable offences
- West Brom capitalised, with Matheus Pereira and Callum Robinson scoring twice
- Tuchel was fuming but insisted he would get an improvement for the Porto game
Thomas Tuchel accepted the responsibility for Chelsea’s five-goal thrashing at the hands of West Bromwich Albion but he did not spare his players from criticism.
‘We were rusty, we were sloppy in the build-up in our own half, and we made many, many unforced errors,’ said Tuchel after seeing his team collapse following a red card for Thiago Silva in the first half-hour of the game at Stamford Bridge.
‘We didn’t adapt our positions under pressure,’ he added. ‘There were critical ball-losses in our own half and that led in the end to a red card, and that cost us the game.
Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel admits a 5-2 loss against West Bromwich Albion was unacceptable
The Blues boss was visibly and demonstrably frustrated with his players throughout the match
‘When it was 11 against 11, I wasn’t super-happy but that was OK. I didn’t expect too much after the international break and the early kick-off.
‘And I thought if it takes us a while I accept it. But we were still sloppy on counter-attacks and missed a lot of opportunities to finish this game early.
‘And the second story was that we were not good enough when we were one man down. There is absolutely no need to concede five goals with our quality. But our defending was not on the quality it should be.
‘It is my responsibility. It hard to accept but there is no other solution than to accept it and to move forward.’
Defender Thiago Silva (pictured) was sent off before the half-four for two bookable offences
The Brazilian also suffered a torrid debut against the Baggies in this season’s reverse fixture
Tuchel, unbeaten in his first 14 games after he was appointed to replace Frank Lampard, made key changes at the back. With Silva fit after injury, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger started on the bench.
So did Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi, with Tammy Abraham left out of the squad and not injured.
‘Hopefully we can look back and call it a wake-up call,’ said Tuchel. ‘That would mean we woke up and started a new run. But for me it wasn’t necessary, I didn’t feel we were overconfident or arrogant or lacked effort.
The loss against relegation-threatened West Brom ended Tuchel’s 14-match unbeaten streak
‘After 15 or 14 matches, we cannot lose our head, we cannot take away the trust we have in these players.
‘After the game, it was the moment to be honest but to be calm and to breathe and tell everybody to breathe. It is our first loss together. It is important to find a way to deal with it together, and that everyone knows that I feel a part of it.
‘So there were some quick words to calm everybody down and to delay the talks because it was too emotional, too much frustration and that is not productive.’