Thomas Tuchel has admitted Chelsea’s pre-season was challenging and demanding, but insists his team are ready to play Everton in their Premier League opener.
Chelsea will face their former boss Frank Lampard at Goodison Park looking to avoid another defeat on Merseyside to mark the new campaign with a victory.
They have had all week to prepare for the trip up north after heading to the United States and Italy for pre-season fixtures.
Chelsea beat Club America, lost to Charlotte FC on penalties and were thrashed by Arsenal. They ended their pre-season with two wins over Udinese in Italy last week.
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They trained in intense heats and did a significant amount of travelling across America which clearly took its toll on the team.
Tuchel reflected on their pre-season preparations and acknowledged the ‘challenging and demanding’ weeks. But the Chelsea head coach gave his reasons, including having to take more of a hands-on approach with the owners and transfers.
He said in his pre-match press conference: “Frustrating is the wrong word. Was challenging, very demanding, time wise I was sometimes involved in things where I did not spend too much time normally.
“My day is only 24 hours like yours so sometimes I needed to and was happy to rely on my staff to do preparations for training more than I was normally involved. It was needed, was necessary. I spend a lot of time with our new owners to align our thoughts, align our ideas, to discuss and re-discuss our opinions. It was necessary, it still is like this so it was needed that I adapt.
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“Was not frustrating but quite challenging and time consuming. I can do my job properly but some stuff came to it, extra stuff, we do our job properly and it decreased with every day we knew each other better. The communication gets clearer since we are here, it is business as usual plus some extra stuff regarding the transfers.”
On being ready for the new season after losing heavily against Arsenal, Tuchel added: “We are some steps further. It was absolutely necessary. Maybe it was also necessary to lose that game like we lost it against Arsenal, against a big rival in the league who is trying to take our place. Maybe it was a wake up call for everybody.
“Since then we have stepped up. As always, the last week before the season is always where you feel a new focus, new excitement, new level of focus in training. Legs are fresh now, fresher than when we trained in Florida. Still we are not where we can be but let’s see, we feel ready and competitive for tomorrow.
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“A very good training week so far, the atmosphere is back to where it was before the Arsenal game like in the first weeks of preseason. Then we lost the energy towards the Arsenal game. After that we needed to digest but last week is good, we feel ready for tomorrow. This is very important to not lose the focus and take the first week step by step. We took the possibility to prepare the whole week for Saturday, nothing else. This is where we are.”
Topics: Chelsea, Premier League, Thomas Tuchel, Football
Matthew Debono