Thomas Tuchel revealed the message he delivered to his Chelsea players following their Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool.
Speaking to the club media after the Blues lost on penalties yesterday, Tuchel said those dejected soldiers were simply told not to remorse the result or feel hard on themselves.
A Carabao Cup finale for the ages
The two Premier League giants put on a wonderful spectacle for those watching inside Wembley and beyond its hallowed walls.
Both teams attacked with great ferocity and defended with gallant fortitude.
Edouard Mendy and Caoimhin Kelleher were certainly kept busy by the opposing attackers, making a handful of important interventions to keep the scores level.
Liverpool did break Chelsea’s resistance in the second half, only to see Joel Matip’s header disallowed by VAR for a foul prior to the goal.
Tuchel’s men also had the officials to thank for missing out on scoring three times, each one ruled out as an offside.
Mason Mount missed two big opportunities either side of the interval which could’ve swung the proceeding on its head.
The spot-kick saga
Two hours of breathless, end-to-end football flew by, meaning the dreaded drama from 12-yards was going to settle Sunday’s showpiece event.
Every single outfielder converted their effort, meaning those typically tasked with trying to stop the shots turned into the potential match winners.
Kelleher confidently smashed the ball into the back of the net, leaving Kepa Arrizabalaga the last man standing.
Kepa had replaced Mendy in the final few minutes of the contest because of his prowess from the spot.
He hardly got a glove to any of Liverpool’s strikes and hardly got near the goal with his attempt.
The Spaniard watched on in despair as the drive just continued to head towards the night sky.
His misery was met by a swarm of Chelsea bodies, all consoling their crestfallen comrade.
Tuchel kept the group together to issue some words of support, reminding them of the monumental amount of energy they had just exerted.
“We have no regrets today. You did excellent. I don’t want anybody to lose sleep tonight because we could not have done better,” was the German’s verbal letter to the team.
“Of course, Mason will be angry he didn’t hit the goal. I cannot help that they will be angry or sad. Overall, there are no regrets today.”
Chelsea cannot be too caught up in this failure, as the fixtures continue to come thick and fast, starting with the weekend’s FA Cup match against Luton Town.
Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts