Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel plans to have an honest talk with his players following his side's disappointing 3-0 defeat against Leeds United.
The Blues were comprehensively outplayed at Elland Road yesterday afternoon – although Tuchel didn't quite agree with that assessment – and were soundly beaten after first-half goals from Brenden Aaronson, Rodrigo Moreno, and a strike in the second period from Jack Harrison.
Few expected such a sub-par display from Chelsea. Part of the reason for that was a week earlier, against Tottenham Hotspur, the Blues were outstanding across the pitch. The other factor was that Tuchel and his players had a full week to prepare for the trip to west Yorkshire.
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So there could be no excuses offered beyond injuries to Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante. And it's why Tuchel wants to get to the root of the issue that resulted in such a poor display.
"I don't understand so well why the body language was different from last week because there was no reason for it," he told the club's in-house media. "We need to see, we need to talk to the players, be honest with ourselves, and do better."
The frustration for Tuchel is Chelsea started well at Elland Road; the Blues twice came close to opening the scoring through Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount. But from the moment Edouard Mendy was robbed by Aaronson inside the penalty area, there was only going to be one winner.
Tuchel did his bit to try to shake Chelsea into action and changed the shape of the side at the half-time interval. However, on reflection, the German felt that was a mistake. "I should not have done it because it was not a matter of tactics or a matter of the plan," he explained.
"It was a matter of execution. We tried to shift the focus away from the mistakes and try something more offensive. We created chances, half-chances, and deliveries. But in the end, they score with one half-chance. [So it's the] same story again."
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