Chelsea suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to London rivals Arsenal in their pre-season friendly in Florida. As a result, head coach Thomas Tuchel let loose in frustration during his post-match press conference. He opted for refreshingly, yet brutally honest responses to the questions directed to him.
Not too long ago, the Chelsea head coach was sure that the hunt for a new No.9 was no longer a priority for the Blues after signing Raheem Sterling. The German believed that he had enough options to play with. He said: "We have Timo Werner as a nine, we have Kai Havertz as a nine, we have Michy Batshuayi as a number nine, we have Armando Broja as a nine and Raheem Sterling as a nine, maybe, so let’s see how things work out."
After yet another match where his attackers struggled in front of goal, it'll be interesting to know if Chelsea are ready to re-evaluate their priority, especially with Cristiano Ronaldo still on the market. It's been a weird transfer window for one of the greatest footballers of all time. Ronaldo had expressed his desire to leave Manchester United quite early on in the transfer window. He is not keen on watching others play in the Champions League whilst he plays in the sister competition on a Thursday night. He is yet to play with the Red Devils this pre-season, despite several fans travelling to Bangkok, Thailand in anticipation of watching him play.
READ MORE: Every word Thomas Tuchel said on Chelsea attack, Arsenal, Kounde, Koulibaly, transfer business
Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes has already had conversations with Todd Boehly this summer where the transfer of Ronaldo was mentioned but not actioned upon. Tuchel is clearly looking for a goalscoring menace. After the Arsenal beat down, he was asked whether he was concerned about Chelsea's goalscoring issue and replied: "For sure. If you look at the first half, it was even hard to escape our half in a productive way and to play in the opponent’s half in a positive way and create chances – we had one chance with a shot [that hit the post].
"Listen, it's the same players, so why should anything change? We will see hopefully development but at the moment, we have the same issues because we have the same players."
For several seasons now, the culture at Chelsea has been weakened by the mentality and lack of cutthroat goalscorers. Various coaches from Jose Mourinho to Frank Lampard have mentioned issues of mental attitude within their respective Chelsea teams. It’s been a peculiar trend that needs to be shaken up. The spirit and fight appear to have improved since winning the Champions League but it could still be better with some end product in the final third.
Ronaldo may be someone who demands a lot from himself and his peers. Despite ending the season as the top scorer at United, by quite a margin, he was still villainised for apparently disrupting the flow in the dressing room. Chelsea could do with a mentality monster like Ronaldo - especially as there is no one left on the market that could make the difference that fans want to see.
What do you think? Should Chelsea sign Cristiano Ronaldo?
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