‘The pre-season is fake’. The line uttered by Jose Mourinho in 2015 shortly after Chelsea’s 4-2 defeat by the New York Red Bulls was designed to downplay pre-season and calm nerves ahead of the new campaign.
In fact, it proved otherwise. In December, Mourinho was sacked from Stamford Bridge, after guiding the reigning Premier League champions to nine defeats in the opening 16 games of the season.
It’s hard not to note the similarity between Mourinho’s ill-fated pre-season in North America and Thomas Tuchel’s dismal tour of the United States this month.
Chelsea’s 4-0 thrashing of Arsenal soured the club’s pre-season tour of the United States.
A worryingly lackluster display in the penalty shoot-out defeat to Charlotte and a humiliating 4-0 drubbing of Arsenal’s top four rivals have shown Chelsea to be a long way off the pace ahead of the opening weekend in less than fifteen days
Also, just like in 2015, there are whispers of unease in the Blues camp, if Tuchel’s rant after the Orlando defeat is anything to go by.
“We were absolutely not competitive,” he insisted. “The worrying part is the level of commitment, physical and mental… it was much higher for Arsenal than us.”
Kalidou Koulibaly joined Arsenal for £34m from Napoli as Antonio Rudiger’s replacement
Chelsea would be forgiven for displaying the occasional rusty performance at this stage, given the significant number of key arrivals and departures this summer, but the lack of commitment is nothing more than a glaring concern.
The unrest in the Stamford Bridge dressing room was first uncovered last December when Romelu Lukaku revealed his desire to leave to the Italian press.
The club had hoped the Belgium loanee’s return to Inter would remove any lingering problems, but Tuchel’s comments have shown a number of other players are eyeing the exit door.
He said: “(There was) a level of mental commitment that we lacked because we have a lot of players who are thinking about leaving and looking at their options.
“We got sanctioned and the players left us. We know some players are trying to leave us and that’s where it’s at.”
Saying goodbye to Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger on free transfers wasn’t just a financial setback for Chelsea.
Losing such stalwarts in defense is bound to disrupt the backline on the pitch at the start of the season, increasing the pressure on Kalidou Koulibaly to slot in seamlessly following his arrival from Napoli.
Thomas Tuchel was visibly upset with his Chelsea team after the first 45 minutes
Despite flirting with moves for Jules Kounde, Presnel Kimpembe and Nathan Ake, Blues bosses have yet to land a second central replacement, with 23-year-olds Trevoh Chalobah and Malang Sarr doing little to win favor of the manager against the Gunners. .
As a result, Tuchel has experimented with a four-man defense in pre-season, adding a system change to the growing list of things Chelsea need to work on ahead of the first clash against Everton.
Koulibaly and fellow signing Raheem Sterling impressed the most during the 4-0 defeat, easily eclipsing the host of players at Stamford Bridge.
While Lukaku’s departure would seem to pave the perfect path for Timo Werner to lead the line again at Chelsea, the German striker still seems shaken by his steep drop in form since arriving in west London and, for so, contemplate a distance.
The 26-year-old said “I could be happy anywhere” near the start of the US tour, hinting that he is open to an exit.
Striker Timo Werner said he could be ‘happy anywhere’ when asked about his Chelsea future
Red Devils exclusive Cristiano Ronaldo was linked with a move to Chelsea earlier this month
In addition, club veteran Cesar Azpilicueta, the latest Chelsea star to feature as part of Mourinho’s first team in 2015, has been linked with a move to Barcelona.
If they are distracted by transfer speculation, Werner and Azpilicueta simply compound the problems for Tuchel in attack and at centre-half, intensifying the clear need for reinforcements in these positions.
Whether or not non-Manchester United Cristiano Ronaldo is the answer, Chelsea are likely to struggle next season with natural attacking midfielder Kai Havertz leading the line solo.
With ex-managers Frank Lampard and Antonio Conte facing off in the first two games of the season, the pressure could be at boiling point as Tuchel’s new-look Chelsea look to put a turbulent pre-season to rest this month it comes.