Thomas Tuchel has provided an honest verdict on Chelsea's 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in their final match of their pre-season tour of the United States.
Goals from Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Sambi Lokonga saw Chelsea fall to defeat in their worst result of pre-season so far.
The Blues had previously beaten Club America 2-1 in Las Vegas before falling to defeat on penalties against Charlotte FC in North Carolina.
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In the final match of the tour, Chelsea opted for a back four to begin the match and went into half-time two goals down. Switching personnel and the system to a back three, there was no difference for Tuchel's side as they shipped another two goals in the second period.
Arsenal looked the fitter and more tactically disciplined side as Tuchel was left frustrated by the performance of his team.
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Out of the outfield players, Ben Chilwell was the only player not to get any minutes under his belt after coming back from an ACL injury last season, with the other players coming on at different intervals during the clash. Edouard Mendy played the full 90 minutes, conceding four.
Kalidou Koulibaly made his first appearance since signing for the Blues from Napoli in a deal believed to be worth £34 million, looking sharp as a second-half substitute.
When asked about the performance of his side, as quoted by football.london, Tuchel said: "I think we deserved to lose, which is fair enough, because we were simply not good enough.
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"The worrying part is the level of commitment physically and mentally was far higher for Arsenal than us.
"We can argue they had their strongest line up, it was not our strongest line up and this is part of an explanation but only a little part.
"I don’t remember losing 4-0 in pre-season or two in a row. I’m a huge fan of a strong preseason, but not in a way that a good preseason has to mean a good season."
Chelsea have been without N'Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek for the tour of the United States, with both players remaining in England due to their vaccination status.
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However, the German continued to reveal that the exclusion of some of his key players was not the only reason for the defeat.
He continued to make a brutally honest admission regarding the headspace of some of his players.
"I saw a team in Arsenal who are mentally committed to a level of exhaustion that we could not match physically and mentally because we have a lot of players who are thinking about leaving and looking at their options. I think that’s obvious," he continued.
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Cesar Azpilicueta has been heavily linked with a move to Barcelona along with Marcos Alonso.
Elsewhere, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech have been rumoured to depart Chelsea this summer, with no transfers agreed as of yet.
Chelsea will be hoping to add to their squad before the season starts, with final match remaining before the 2022/23 Premier League season begins.
Featured Image Credit: FC Series/Chelsea FCTopics: Chelsea, Arsenal, Thomas Tuchel, Football
