Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel blames Stamford Bridge pitch for Arsenal loss
According to the Metro, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel revealed that it was challenging to play at Stamford Bridge due to the pitch. The Blues lost a crucial home game against Arsenal by a 4-2 scoreline yesterday.
After the Gunners took the lead two times with goals from Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe, Chelsea fought back by equalizing. But Nketiah’s second goal and a penalty from Bukayo Saka secured the victory for the visitors.
During Nketiah’s second goal, Blues defender Andreas Christensen made a mistake that allowed the Gunners striker through on goal. His under-hit pass to Edouard Mendy then led to Arsenal opening their account for the game.
However, manager Thomas Tuchel believes that the pitch played a damning role in that defensive haulier. It is truly a strange excuse to hear because on first viewing, the ball’s bounce didn’t seem to be that awkward and it looked like an error of misjudgement from the Dane.
“To say that the pitch is difficult to play here is maybe sounds like an excuse, but it is a very, very difficult pitch that we have here. It is not to our favour. The ball bounces very, very awkwardly in front of Andreas [Christensen] when he wants to play this ball.”
How fair is Thomas Tuchel’s evaluation?
The manager probably had the authority to get the pitch changed before the match started. If he had noticed it previously, surely a message would have been relayed to the groundsmen at Stamford Bridge.
It is not an excuse for our harrowing defeat against the Gunners, which now creates an outside chance of us missing out on the UEFA Champions League places this season.
Christensen should have done better for the first goal and this also doesn’t cover the fact that the Blues were at fault for the other three goals netted by the visitors- especially Cesar Azpilicueta. His misplaced pass led to Arsenal’s third on the night while a foolish push resulted in a Bukayo Saka penalty strike right at the death.
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Even in that game, Antonio Rudiger lost his footing to let Karim Benzema head an extra-time winner in the second leg. But that was different. That was Santiago Bernabeu.
It really paints an embarrassing picture when a manager blames their own pitch for a loss such as this. Even though defects in the pitch can influence the result in some cases, they can’t entirely control the team’s overall performance.