In a separate interview away from the post-match press conference in the Croatian capital on Tuesday night, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel showed a worrying side to his thinking and mindset. The Blues boss struggled to find answers for the Dinamo Zagreb Champions League shock defeat.
The 2020/21 winners of the competition were expected to pick up maximum points on the opening night in Group E, but they failed miserably to seize on the opportunity as Ante Cacic's inspired team shut out a toothless Chelsea outfit for whom Deadline Day signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could not even help out.
Mislav Orsic, as he loves to do, continued his premium goalscoring streak against London clubs, having previously netted on multiple occasions in the past against Tottenham and West Ham, respectively. A lovely bit of interchange in the middle of the pitch allowed the midfielder to race through on goal and dink his effort past the onrushing Kepa Arrizabalaga. Both Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly were compared to the chuckle brothers after that one incident which, in the end, proved the difference between the two sides.
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"No, they did not," Tuchel said when asked if his opponents surprised him at all in his post-match press conference. "We expected what we got, and I think we got what we got. It was the story of the last few games - we started okay for 15-20 minutes but then lacked determination, precision and maybe even lacked the smell of blood. We had a number of deliveries, spaces, and ball wins that should be by far enough to have far more attempts, but we did not. We conceded a goal with two players in a counter-attack, it's never happened before. I don't understand why it happened today.
"It's clearly my job to analyse it, so this is my analysing from the sideline, and it will continue. We need to be much better. We are not finished, we are not happy with our results, and we are not happy with the way we play in general, but I thought we were in a good way. I'm a bit surprised by this performance today."
The Chelsea manager, who is now the second favourite manager in the Premier League behind Leicester's Brendan Rodgers to face the early chop, was certainly a lot more talkative in his press conference when comparing his demeanour and responses to the one he portrayed in Chelsea's in-house media.
When asked how he would get a reaction from this set of players ahead of Fulham at the weekend, the German made some weird noises and waited about 10 seconds before simple admitting that 'he doesn't know.'
For such an exuberant man, this answer is a real worry for Chelsea fans to see. Some have recognised the fact that Tuchel himself isn't as present as he used to be on the sidelines. Many point to the fact that his divorce in his external life away from football is now spilling over into his attitude and mindset within the games.
Chelsea fans- Do you think something is not quite right with Thomas Tuchel, and what would you do if you were in his shoes? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
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