Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed that he "hates" losing matches and is frustrated by how his side continues to make crucial mistakes.
The Blues were beaten by Everton on Sunday afternoon in a victory that massively boosts their chances of surviving relegation. Richarlison scored the all-important goal for the Toffees, pouncing on a clumsy slip up by Cesar Azpilicueta and coolly slotting the ball beneath Edouard Mendy.
But Chelsea were never truly at the races at Goodison Park. Both in and out of possession Tuchel’s side were shaky, lacking composure in hot-headed moments and never truly showing the class that has made them a force to be reckoned with previously.
Speaking to Sky Sports after his side’s disappointing display, Tuchel said: “We hate to lose, we are responsible for it, it was our responsibility in Old Trafford to not have more - we struggle to have consecutive clean sheets and top performances and that is why we lost today.
"We have to be without mistakes, disciplined in our positions and don't make mistakes. When you have that much possession, we did not play our best match but we were in control, and then we gave a goal away and it kills the game for us because it is everything the opponent wants. It is a huge pattern in our season.
"We have now four matches in the last two weeks and one clean sheet, that needs to change - if we try to get away with OK performances that is not good for us, we are a team that needs to be on the very top limit on every match basis. If we try to get away with being OK then we lose games. We struggle with concentration and determination levels and you see that in the last four matches."
Chelsea have underwhelmed of late, only bating West Ham in their last four games and struggling against Manchester United and Arsenal when they would be expected to rise to the occasion. Tensions are rising as a result, especially because sloppy errors and complacency have been to blame for a lot of their goals conceded – including Richarlison's.
Tuchel told BBC Sport: “We can't stop doing individual mistakes. We struggle to have repetitive top performances. Today was an OK performance but OK is not enough.
"We conceded in the first minute of the second half and it becomes more difficult. The way we gave this goal away was absolutely unnecessarily. If we keep on giving goals away it ends up in the results we have had recently. We were not on the highest level. We trusted the team. Maybe we could have changed more. That is something I will reflect on personally."
The Blues take on Wolves next week before travelling to Elland Road for a midweek fixture against relegation-battling Leeds, and those two games offer Tuchel the opportunity to get his team back on side and in better form with the FA Cup final against Liverpool on the horizon. The Reds are chasing the dream of winning a quadruple and are certainly able to emulate the performance of their Merseyside rivals Everton against Chelsea.
