December 30, (THEWILL) – Due to the number of Covid instances and injuries his side has been dealing with, Thomas Tuchel has stated that it is “stupid” to believe Chelsea are still in the Premier League title fight.
The Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton in the Premier League on Wednesday, losing both Reece James and Andreas Christensen to injury, and have now won only twice in their previous five league games.
Manchester City, their Premiership title challengers, have not had any such misfortunes, winning each of their last ten games. Pep Guardiola’s team now leads the Blues by eight points heading into the new year.
Tuchel dismissed allegations that Chelsea are still in the title race after the game against Brighton. The German manager said in response to being asked if Chelsea could finish first: “How should we be in [the race]? We have seven COVID cases. We have five or six players out for six or more weeks. How should we compete in a title race?
“Everyone else who has a full squad, everybody in training has the full power to come through this league. We would be stupid to think we can do it out of COVID and injuries. Just play and everybody would be stupid to do it without 23 fit players.”
Tuchel has chastised the Premier League for its handling of the recent surge of COVID-19 instances, blaming them of failing to put player safety first.
He did not resort to these criticisms after the game, instead saying: “This is the reality, this is where we are and we have to adapt to the demands of the situation which you are in.
“I competed very hard for the win at Brighton at home. I don’t know what I can expect from my players in terms of physicality, intensity or minutes.
“Nobody knows any more because we have never done something like this. We play trial and error and see what we can do.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
