The result is rarely deemed the important thing in a pre-season friendly but it was impossible to ignore Thomas Tuchel's frustration in the press conference following Chelsea's penalty shootout defeat to Charlotte FC. The German coach cut a spiky figure in the North Carolina night after his side were unable to find much fluency in a disjointed performance.
Tuchel noted ahead of the match that he hoped to use the friendly at the Bank of America Stadium to begin to progress tactically after the opening game of the US tour saw more of a focus on physical preparation. The Chelsea boss was not happy with the lack of quality produced by his side, particularly in the second period.
Tuchel said: "Second half, it took us half an hour to show some quality and then it was maybe for ten minutes, so it was not good at all. Not offensively, not structure-wise, not in effort, hunger to be the dominant team. It was not good enough."
