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Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel was left frazzled on Wednesday night after watching his side slump to their second defeat in three Premier League games, with a dismal 4-2 home loss to Arsenal.
With his side having now conceded eight goals in that same time frame, the German was desperately searching for answers during the postmatch debrief at Stamford Bridge until he finally hit upon the root of the problem.
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Indeed, the roots literally were the issue for Tuchel, who blamed the condition of the pitch for the role it played in Eddie Nketiah’s opening goal, as the striker tucked away after pouncing on a scuffed back-pass from Andreas Christensen.
“To say that the pitch is difficult to play here is maybe sounds like an excuse but it is a very, very difficult pitch that we have here,” the Chelsea boss grumbled. “It is not to our favour. The ball bounces very, very awkwardly in front of Andreas when he wants to play this ball.”
Tuchel also referenced the error made by Edouard Mendy during the Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Real Madrid which saw the Blues’ keeper bungle a bobbling back-pass as Karim Benzema nipped in to complete his hat trick in a 3-1 drubbing.
“We had the same mistake against Real Madrid that cost us the next round,” he added. “This one [Nketiah’s goal] cost us the next match, I cannot remember when we got a goal like this.”
Rather than any great act of treachery on behalf of the Stamford Bridge turf, it’s also perfectly feasible that Tuchel’s defenders have simply been found lacking a little composure under pressure in recent weeks. Who can say for sure?
Of course, the Chelsea manager isn’t the…
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Source : espn
