After the 3-1 win of his FC Chelsea on Boxing Day at Aston Villa, coach Thomas Tuchel criticized the tight schedule, the associated overloading of his players in times of the corona pandemic and the alleged ignorance of the decision-makers.
“I’m super impressed by the guys, but also super worried,” said Tuchel after the win, speaking against “people in some offices at green tables”. Chelsea are down in staff due to a few corona cases, but still have to play four games within ten days. A home game against Brighton & Hove Albion is scheduled for Wednesday.
The game against Villa was given the decisive turn by striker Romelu Lukaku, who had just returned from a corona infection. After an own goal by Reece James and an equalizer from Jorginho, Lukaku came on at halftime. First he scored 2-1 with his first goal since mid-September, then he took out the penalty, which Jorginho converted again.
“We let him play for 45 minutes, which was longer than recommended by the medical department,” said Tuchel. “He’s not ready for it, even if he’d like to. We’ve all been in bed for ten days with the flu. Two days later I didn’t play at Villa Park.” What the quick comeback after the corona infection will do with Lukaku, “we don’t know, nobody knows,” said Tuchel: “Maybe we’re making a big mistake.”
Tuchel criticizes the change rule and the lack of a winter break
During the game against Aston Villa, Tuchel had to do without Timo Werner, who had corona, as well as Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell. 90 minutes after surviving the corona infection, Callum Hudson-Odoi was on the field. “We had to let him play through because we had to take other players off the field,” said Tuchel.
N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva had to be substituted off after Lukaku had already come for defender Trevor Chalobah at the break for tactical reasons. Edge replaced Mateo Kovacic, who had also just come back from a corona infection and had to participate “without preparation or training”.
“Five changes were introduced because of Corona, all of Europe has five changes, just not us. All of Europe has a winter break, but we play through,” complained Tuchel. “But on whose back? On the player’s back!”
With the win against Aston Villa, Chelsea closed on points with Liverpool FC, whose game on Boxing Day against Leeds United had been postponed due to corona cases. Manchester City continues to lead the table. Coach Pep Guardiola’s side defeated Leicester City 6-3 in a wild game.
