After being booed off against Everton, Thomas Tuchel asked Chelsea fans to unite behind his squad but said it was hard to explain their faltering form.
Chelsea slipped four points behind Manchester City after a 1-1 draw with Everton on Thursday, which was met with jeers from some home fans at Stamford Bridge.
Everton fought on for a point despite missing 12 first-team players, leaving Chelsea to rue the continuation of a run in which they had won just two of their last six matches in all competitions.
Chelsea travel to Wolves on Sunday with at least four players missing after Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Ben Chilwell all tested positive for COVID-19 — though Havertz had a negative test on Friday — with Tuchel looking to get the team back to the form that saw them beat Juventus four times in the Champions League last month.
“When you are not really underperforming but you don’t get the results, it is a bit of an awkward place because maybe then you have to admit you don’t have the one solution that can fix the problem,” Tuchel told a news conference on Friday.
“But it can help to speak it out and be honest about it. Maybe not this one, and this one and this thing to fix but maybe there are more reasons and it is a complex situation. Yesterday, for me, I think we have all the right to admit it was purely down to bad luck.
Chelsea supporters, according to Thomas Tuchel, can assist players in regaining their form following a recent downturn.
“This game in all statistics, expected goals, is a clear win. The feeling would be totally different if we had a 3-0 win. We would praise the players [for] how they dealt with the situation. Who do we blame now? For not scoring in the first half, Mason Mount? Reece James for failing to score? This isn’t feasible. I will never, never do this.
“You get booed off, it happens, but I don’t think it is for the performance. I think the people come, they wish the best for us, they support us and in the end, they are disappointed and we are as well. I absolutely refuse to take it personally.
“These things happen, and all I can say is that we need your help. We need the players to be at their best, and we need the fans to be at their best, especially when things become tough and tight. They’re even more important now.”
Tuchel also discussed the specifics of their recent collapse, which included a 1-1 draw against Manchester United, a 2-0 loss to West Ham United, and a fortunate 3-2 triumph over Leeds United.
“I agree the last results are absolutely not what we expect and what we maybe deserve,” he added. “It is a bit up and down and maybe we struggle as well with the praise and whatever. I don’t believe it is one of the reasons.
“If you mention Juventus, we should also mention we lose two key players — N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic — we lose Kante in the match, we lose Ben Chilwell in the match. We still play a top game against Man United and West Ham.
“I saw many, many teams struggle more at West Ham than we did and we lose with a freak shot in the last minute. We get punished for not a lot, I have to say. It is hard to accept it, even for me because we are always looking for reasons, we always want to have the proof and we want the result to be proof of the performance.
“It is hard sometimes in this place where we are now to say ‘no, I refuse, we keep on doing what we do because we don’t have the proof of results. To be honest, I don’t see anything major going wrong here.”
