CHELSEA have three quickfire games in a week… and someone in the technical area needs to calm down.
If Thomas Tuchel continues to pogo about like an animated hatstand it will send out the wrong message.
The Blues need to be more mature, more composed, more measured. Instead, as last weekend’s performance at Leeds showed, winding everyone up to fever pitch can backfire.
Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat, and the red card shown to the temperamental Kalidou Koulibaly, happened because United pressed more vigorously, stuck to the game plan and never let up.
By contrast, Tuchel’s boys lost their cool, failed to take chances and littered their game with errors.
In the space of a week, Chelsea host Leicester and West Ham, with a visit to Southampton in between.
Tuchel has to switch the emphasis back to more controlled, methodical football.
But he also has to play his part. Getting overexcited on the touchline is not helping. He’s a gifted tactician, but that doesn’t mean flailing about like a pair of trousers and a shirt in a spin dryer.
Edouard Mendy may be a fine goalkeeper, but his sloppy dribbling allowed Leeds’ Brenden Aaronson to poach the opener at Elland Road, paving the way to defeat.
Koulibaly’s sending-off sums up a discipline issue which currently starts at the top.
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