Thomas Tuchel hailed his “special group” of Chelsea players after they battered Southampton 6-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Off the back of a damaging week following losses to Brentford and Real Madrid, the pressure was on the European champions to cement their place in the Premier League’s top four.
But two goals each from Timo Werner and Mason Mount in a dominant display wiped away concerns about a loss of form going into the crucial part of the season.
“It tells us that we’re not the team to escape with results if our input isn’t 90% of commitment and investment. We are a special group when we have our priorities right,” Tuchel told reporters.
“If we’re committed, defend with courage, have the attitude right and hunger right, this is our foundation to show quality. We’re not the fancy group that comes with just quality and get away with just 90% commitment to the whole game.
“It’s not always easy to have this hunger and commitment because we come from a ruthless schedule... It’s not about blaming the players, I understand why it was hard after the international break, but we have the quality.”
Chelsea travel to Madrid in midweek before taking on Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-finals next weekend.
Tuchel said he was not sure about the availability of captain Cesar Azpilicueta, who missed the Saints game due to COVID-19, and injured striker Romelu Lukaku.
“Azpi had a positive COVID test since yesterday so I have no prediction about that,” Tuchel said. “We need a negative test. I can do nothing about it but hope and wait. Romelu wasn’t ready for today but on Monday we leave the country. Let’s see.”
