“I never thought of it as a given” – Thomas Tuchel weighs in on Chelsea’s top four ambitions
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted that his team are not guaranteed a top four place in the Premier League this season.
The Blues currently sit third ahead of their trip to Southampton on Saturday. They come into the game off the back of a shocking 4-1 defeat to local rivals Brentford at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
With nine games left to play, Tuchel's side are five points clear of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, who are fifth and fourth respectively, both on 54 points. Meanwhile, West Ham United (6th) and Manchester United (7th) are both still in the hunt and lie a further three points behind the two north London sides.
🗣 “There is no reason why it should suddenly have an effect.”
Thomas Tuchel says Chelsea have already proven the outside noise surrounding the club hasn’t and won’t impact his players. https://t.co/B9iFEJg0YX
However, recent league performances from the European champions have been unconvincing. This has been the case, especially since it was announced that owner Roman Abramovich would be forced to sell the club. The UK government issued sanctions on Abramovich, which has seemingly affected the club on the pitch as well.
Chelsea are also still reeling from a damaging defeat in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday, 6 April. A stunning hat-trick from Karim Benzema meant they go into the second leg next week 3-1 down.
When asked about his team's top four hopes in his pre-match press conference, Tuchel told Football.London:
"(I am) Confident but it's not a given. I never thought of it as a given. It's the most demanding league in the world and we know what can make us struggle in a season."
When asked whether or not his side were in a state of blip, Tuchel said:
"I hope so and there are a lot of reasons to think so. It came more or less out of nothing, nobody was here, and then we start losing matches and conceding goals. It's challenging and it's on us to find solutions and not to complain too much."
Thomas Tuchel is not happy. https://t.co/4AhLcvvzLo
Chelsea strong favorites to beat Southampton
Despite their poor form, Chelsea should be too much for their opponents in Saturday's clash. The Saints currently sit in 12th place with no chance of earning European football or being dragged into a relegation battle.
Ralph Hassenhuttl's side drew their last Premier League encounter 1-1 at Leeds United, which was their first point in four games. The Saints have only won once against this weekend's visitors in their last 14 attempts.
Tuchel was asked if Southampton were the perfect opponents this weekend, to which he replied:
"If you turn it around like this, yeah. They will not let us sleep. They either player a 4-4-2 with a high and heavy pressing line that the usually play. In the cup game, they played a back five with man-marking across the whole pitch. We've looked at some things from both matches, both matches were high quality and very active."
Mentality. 💯 https://t.co/GpVFaDrL2P