Thomas Tuchel had every right to be extremely disappointed following Chelsea's defeat to Arsenal on Wednesday evening. The Blues were beaten by their London rivals to bring to an end their three-match winning streak going into the clash.
"We scored five goals and lost 4-2. That's easy," a furious Tuchel said to the Sky Sports cameras following the 4-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge. "Three own goals, two regular goals for us and one for Arsenal. That makes it 4-2."
11 goals conceded in their last three home matches. Eleven. That's unheard of for Chelsea. Especially Chelsea under Tuchel.
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Antonio Rudiger missed Wednesday's defeat with a groin injury, Tuchel confirmed before the match, while Thiago Silva was named on the bench, with the Chelsea head coach hoping to hand the 37-year-old defender a rest. That was not the case, though, as the Blues conceded two in the first half and Silva was brought on at the break.
This was not part of Tuchel's plan. He thought a back-three of Andreas Christensen, Reece James and Malang Sarr was enough to keep Arsenal out. It was not. In fact, two out of the three defenders had nightmares at the Bridge.
Christensen had a blunder for the first goal of the match, with his under-hit pass allowing Eddie Nketiah to run through one-on-one and slot the ball past Edouard Mendy. The Dane, who looks set to leave the club at the end of the season, was then taken off at half-time for Silva.
"He said he couldn't continue," Tuchel said on Christensen after the match. "He had some problems. It's a very, very difficult pitch here. It's not in our favour. The ball bounces awkwardly."
Injury or not, that change needed to be made. This should not be the case. Chelsea and Tuchel having to rely on a 37-year-old centre-back to play every game is far from ideal.
In truth, it could have also been Sarr who came off rather than Christensen, should there have been no injury to the latter. Sarr was poor in the first half and performed even worse in the second period.
A moment in the second half sticks out more than most regarding Sarr's performance. One where he absolutely clatters into Cedric during an Arsenal attack. It was really clumsy from the Chelsea defender and it sort of summed up his performance on the night.
The 23-year-old has had his moments for Chelsea this term, including against Tottenham a few months ago, but he has had more concerning performances than promising ones. The Blues need more strength in depth in the centre-half position - there is no doubt about that.
Rudiger and Christensen both look like they could leave the club in the summer transfer window, so at the very least, one central defender is needed. And he needs to be very good.
Well, that man has already been identified. It's Jules Kounde. Chelsea were after the Sevilla defender throughout the 2021 summer transfer window, but the two clubs were unable to reach an agreement over his price.
At the time, Sevilla was demanding €80million (£66.4m) for the Frenchman, and a figure Chelsea were unwilling to pay. Now, though, according to a report from ESPN towards the end of last year, the Seville-based club are willing to negotiate a fee of around €60m (£49.8m), with just over two years remaining on Kounde's contract with the Spaniards.
Kounde, 23, is really speedy for a centre-back - perfect for a wide role in the three-back formations Tuchel likes to use. His passing, aerial duels and ability while in possession are also really strong attributes in his game.
Tuchel confirmed last year that Kounde was indeed a target for Chelsea in the 2021 summer transfer window. "It was clear we tried for Kounde and Saul [Niguez], and it was very, very late, but it was a very, very smooth transfer window because I had full concentration on training and on my team," the Blues head coach revealed.
Something needs to be done with Chelsea's defensive line, whether it's Kounde or other linked players such as Matthijs de Ligt and Pau Torres. Players are going to be leaving in the summer, and it's far from perfect before they've even departed.
