Some Chelsea fans on social media have had their say after Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino branded Thomas Tuchel’s side “a defensive team”.
As it stands, the Blues sit at the top of the Premier League table with the fewest goals conceded (four) and the second-most goals scored (27) after 11 games.
In the Champions League, they are second in Group H, three points behind leaders Juventus, having scored six goals and conceded just once in four group matches.
Chelsea have also the best record in the European competition — and this is where Pochettino’s comment came from.
He was questioned about his PSG team’s conceding four more goals than the Chelsea team managed by his predecessor Tuchel.
“Chelsea have a defensive team,” the former Tottenham Hotspur manager responded to the question (via The Athletic).
“They play in transition and on the counter.
“We have signed two attacking full-backs, [Achraf] Hakimi and Nuno Mendes,
“It is true, we are conceding a high volume of shots, but that is one of the characteristics of attacking teams, to have full-backs that bomb forward, get into the opposition box.”
‘Defensive’ Chelsea statistically more offensive than PSG in Champions League
His response would raise some eyebrows, to say the least.
It is not only that this “defensive” Chelsea have registered more shots on target per game (17.3 — sixth highest) than PSG (8.3 — 27th) in the Champions League this season, their wing-backs are also as offensive as, if not more, than Hakimi and Mendes.
Unsurprisingly, a number of Chelsea fans on Twitter are clearly not impressed by Pochettino’s comments.
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