>
‘We need to step up or we will get punished’: Thomas Tuchel warns Chelsea they must ‘show a reaction’ after Southampton handed them a second league defeat… as he claims the Blues are ‘paying the price for half a year of insecurity’
- Chelsea have taken just seven points from their first five matches of the season
- The Blues have suffered surprise defeats away at Leeds and Southampton
- This is despite a record-breaking transfer window as they have spent £271million
- Thomas Tuchel has admitted that his team must improve after their poor start
- But the German says the club’s spending does not concern him or bring pressure
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
Thomas Tuchel has warned that Chelsea’s risk losing more games if they do not improve following their disappointing start to the Premier League season.
The Blues have taken just seven points from their first five matches and have suffered surprise defeats away at Leeds and Southampton.
This is despite a record-breaking transfer window in Todd Boehly’s first summer as owner, with the Blues spending £271million on new players.
Thomas Tuchel has warned that Chelsea risk losing more games if they do not improve
‘We need to step up,’ Tuchel said. ‘If we don’t get tough, we will get punished. This is not what we want. We will show a reaction that we can do this. It’s proven. We need to find the right spirit and attitude in all the matches, including me and the team.’
Naturally, after such an outlay, expectations of Chelsea will increase but Tuchel said: ‘Before we talk about challenging for the title we should be ready to challenge West Ham for a win and then we go on.
‘It’s too many losses already. Too many points dropped to talk about big things. Just because the transfer period ended is not the only point in a turnaround.
‘We need a kind of turnaround in this season. I told you many times I think we are a club in transition, paying the price not only in the money for new players but pay a price for the last half a year of insecurity.
The Blues have suffered surprise defeats to Leeds and Southampton in the opening month
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s arrival completed a record-breaking window for Chelsea
‘I think the teams that are dominating the league, getting earlier into their rhythm, are the teams who knew since many months what they want, where they are, the role they play, the role they attack this league. It was maybe not so clear until today for us.
‘We have to come from behind because we struggle results wise. We have periods in every game we play okay, periods in every game except for Tottenham where we don’t play okay.
‘We got punished with results. This is where we are. The pressure is on. The responsibility is on me. It’s always like this, no?’
Chelsea embarked on the Premier League’s biggest ever spree in a single window as they added Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella, Carney Chukwuemeka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Denis Zakaria and a number of youth players to their ranks.
Raheem Sterling was another headline arrival as the Blues slashed £271million on new players
But Tuchel was more concerned about who arrived rather than how much they cost.
He said: ‘We can discuss if we over spend or if it is too much money for the players but the players we got are very, very good players, very good personalities.
‘Everything was desperately needed to rebuild the group and inspire the group. I think we did excellent signings. It does not help if we talk about the price too much.
‘It’s maybe hard to argue this is way too much money, okay. This is how the market was for us. Maybe we were not in the perfect position to always find the right timing and price. That’s nobody’s fault.
‘The players we got fit perfectly. I am very happy to work with this group.’