CHELSEA manager Thomas Tuchel struggled to come to terms with the result on Thursday night as his side lost ground in the race for the Premier League title.
The European champions were held to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge by a young Everton side decimated by injuries and Covid-19.
Although Chelsea had absences of their own, they were still able to field a senior side full of internationals while Everton had to rely on Jordan Pickford, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Alex Iwobi and a bunch of youngsters.
Mason Mount gave dominant Chelsea the lead in the 70th minute but 19-year-old Jarrod Branthwaite equalised four minutes later on his Premier League debut.
Tuchel was left frustrated by the result and he found it difficult to explain the situation in his post-match interview.
“I would be more concerned if we were totally out of form, conceding the first goal and then struggling to come back,” the German said.
“I would be more concerned, although maybe it would be easier to analyse.
“I don’t think it’s so easy to analyse our situation. If you look at it, West Ham, I’ve seen teams have huge problems. [Our defeat] came, more or less, almost out of nothing, all three goals. Then you can continue.
“Against Leeds, everything was under control. We played a very good first half, a good 15 minutes, then we score and the game gets out of our hands. Today is a freak result for this kind of match. So where to start? Where to point the finger.
“I don’t think it’s too easy to analyse the situation. There are some facts we concede too many goals – which wasn’t the case today – that we give away too many leading positions. This is part of that but you can be sure we’re looking very honestly and very critically.”
In recent games Chelsea have dropped points ar home to Burnley and Manchester United and lost to West Ham, results that took Tuchel’s side from first to third in the table, now four points behind leaders Manchester City.
“For me, though, it’s not so easy to analyse why we’re dropping points,” he added.
“It was the same against Burnley at home. We did not deserve, the investment we do to get goals is so, so huge. I can’t say we don’t play without full effort, discipline and ambition. We do and especially in first halves and big periods of second halves.
“We get punished for not doing a lot wrong. It’s a bit awkward and strange to analyse.”
