A former Chelsea great was not impressed with the tactics of Thomas Tuchel against Wolves at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea lacked a sense of purpose during Thomas Tuchel’s first game as a manager, according to Tony Cascarino. Earlier this week, the German was brought in to replace the club legend, Frank Lampard. The England international failed to lift the Londoners up in the Premier League since December. Therefore, Chelsea opted for a man who helped Paris Saint-Germain to their first-ever Champions League final last season. Though it seems that the high expectations were dulled down as the Blues drew against Wolves on Wednesday.
As of now, Chelsea stand eighth in the English top-tier, 11 points behind league leaders Manchester City. Tuchel’s men got hold of the game with possession and passing, however, could not deliver the three points needed. On the other hand, the Wanderers almost snatched the winning goal on the brink of halftime. Cascarino did not find the German’s debut amusing. He criticized the 47-year-old for not putting effort into the selection of the starting XI.
In need of preparation.
“I was surprised by his comments even before the game started,” the former Chelsea star told talkSPORT. “He said it was probably one of the most difficult selections I’ve ever had to make. I was thinking, ‘have you not watched a certain amount of videos before you coach your first game?’
“Watch their last ten games and you might have got a good idea what their best team is! I found it a very strange comment. And the performance? I hated every minute of it! Especially the first half. I could have gone and put the kettle on and made a cup of tea when Chelsea started to move. I probably could have got to my tea and started drinking it by the time they got to the 18-yard box.”
Cascarino added: “I’ve watched a lot of Dutch football and one of my biggest criticisms of it is that everybody plays the same way – possession-based with no purpose. You’ve got a similar scenario with France in the past ten years where teams will play this way; dominating the ball, never want to lose possession, but never really scared you.
“I hated what I saw in the first-half because, to me, possession-based football in the Premier League does pose different problems for you when you adopt that style. Wolves offered nothing’ they had two glorious chances but they offered nothing in the game. I didn’t like it. I could be totally wrong here, but if that’s the way Chelsea can play then Stamford Bridge… if there were any fans in there they’d be booing!”
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