Rival legend defends Chelsea boss Tuchel following Arsenal outburst

Jamie Carragher defends Thomas Tuchel for criticising Chelsea stars

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has defended Thomas Tuchel following the latter’s outburst during his post-game interview against Arsenal. Chelsea lost 4-0 to the Gunners in a pre-season friendly and Tuchel tore into his team after full-time.

His outburst invited criticism from a lot of pundits alike, with the Blue’s former midfielder Craig Burley among those to criticise the German tactician. But Carragher says that he understands Tuchel’s reaction.

Carragher says that he ‘admires’ the way the Chelsea manager spoke after his defeat. Speaking to talkSPORT (h/t Metro), the former Liverpool legend gave his thoughts.

“You can see the reaction of Thomas Tuchel after the Arsenal game. I think [Jurgen] Klopp was a little different after Liverpool lost to Manchester United. It was slightly different but I actually quite admired Tuchel’s reaction. I know it’s a pre-season friendly but you shouldn’t be getting beat 4-0, and I actually quite admired how seriously he was taking it.”

The Blues concluded their United States tour in the worst possible way. They suffered an embarrassing defeat to their arch-rivals and Tuchel did not hold back. The German accused his team of lacking motivation and also went on to say that he cannot guarantee Chelsea will be ready in two weeks for the Premier League.

Such comments invited criticism, but Tuchel was not wrong. Chelsea clearly appeared to have been outplayed against what appeared to be a credible threat for the top four-spot for next season. The defence was everywhere and the attack failed to create chances, not something fans love to see with two weeks to go.

A lack of a proper number nine was felt. Despite Tuchel’s focus being on defence currently, he cannot run from the fact that a striker is needed. New signings Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly were two of the better players on the night and will only get better for us in time.

Even in the defensive department, Tuchel and co are struggling to land players. Having already agreed to terms for Jules Kounde, the player is looking likely to go to Barcelona. The Blues were also linked with Matthijs de Ligt before he joined Bayern Munich.

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But the game is now over and what was said cannot be taken back. Looking forward, Tuchel will likely bring in one more centre-back before he targets any other player. Fans will hope that Tuchel will be able to field a competitive team on August 6 against Everton for their opening game of the 2022/23 season.