At the end of the American tour, the Chelsea footballers suffered a 0:4 debacle against Arsenal. According to coach Thomas Tuchel, the players apparently did not take the matches in the USA seriously enough and he admitted that the team may not be properly prepared for the start of the English league, which they enter on August 6 with a match against Everton.
“I’m far from calm. We just didn’t have it, we couldn’t compete with them,” said Tuchel after the match, in which Manchester City signing Gabriel Jesus, Martin Ödegaard, Bukayo Saka and Albert Sambi Lokonga scored for Arsenal. “The Gunners” won for the third time on the American tour.
“The worrying thing is that Arsenal played with a lot more effort than us. We certainly didn’t start with the strongest line-up, which may be a part of the explanation, but only a small part. I can’t guarantee that we will be ready in two weeks,” the German coach said ahead of kick-off Premier League.
Not long ago, Tuchel also stated that the club misses former goalkeeper and later Chelsea manager Petr Čech.
He left the club along with some other members of management during the summer break. Among the main personalities are chairman Bruce Buck or director Marina Granovskaja.
“I never thought I would last longer than Roman (Abramovic), Marina or Petr,” he told the media. “I thought it was impossible. A lot has changed without Marina and Peter,” he added.
Cech was an important person for Tuchel at Chelsea. As The Athletic reported, he played a key role in the arrival of the German coach in London. During long phone calls, he convinced Tuchel not to miss the unique opportunity to coach a famous English club.
“They fell in love and have had a strong relationship ever since,” writes The Athletic.
Chelsea beat Mexico’s America 2:1 at the start of their tour of America, then drew with Charlotte 1:1. Her humiliating loss to Arsenal was watched by over 63,000 spectators in Orlando.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever lost 0-4 in preparation. I don’t remember not winning two matches in a row in preparation. I’m superstitious, but not so much as to say that a bad preparation must mean a bad season,” said Tuchel, whose charge one more preparatory duel awaits at the Udine pitch.
