Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel insisted that his tactics were not to blame for his side’s 3-0 Premier League defeat to Leeds United on Sunday.
It was a surprisingly poor performance from the Blues after what they showed in the draw with Tottenham Hotspur last week.
Tuchel decided to stick with his preferred 3-4-3 formation at Elland Road with Conor Gallagher’s replacing injured N’Golo Kante the only change in the team.
It went quite well until they conceded two quick successive goals in the first half due to Edouard Mendy’s mistake and a poor set-piece defence.
Tuchel changed the system to a back-four at the start of the second half but to no avail. Chelsea still struggled to create big chances, while Leeds widened their lead through Jack Harrison.
The Chelsea manager believes the first two goals pretty much decided the game.
“We were clearly the better team. They [Leeds] do what they do,” Tuchel told BBC Sport.
“I don’t see that a set-piece and own goal [Mendy’s mistake] are due to the style. They are mistakes.
“If we give goals away like this that are totally unnecessary and when we are totally in charge, we cannot win football matches.
“We tried in the second half, and I am disappointed we lost that half as well.
“They made the maximum of their half-chances, and we did not.”
To be fair, Tuchel did try to tweak his tactics during the game after being overrun in midfield in the first half.
Still, Tuchel’s starting front three; Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz, and Mason Mount, has combined zero goals so far, and it is obviously concerning.
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