Thomas Tuchel slammed Chelsea’s performance after they were defeated 1-0 by Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League opener on Tuesday evening.
Chelsea was defeated in Croatia after Mislav Ori scored the game’s only goal after 13 minutes, outpacing Wesley Fofana to race one-on-one with Kepa Arrizabalaga and dink it over the Spain international.
The hosts managed to hold on following a stunning double save from Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper Dominik Livaković in the second half to deny Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech.
Chelsea couldn’t find a leveler and headed back to London empty-handed and deservedly so. Another reminder for the Blues that they need to improve, quickly, otherwise run the risk of declining even more in the coming weeks.
The defeat left Tuchel angry and annoyed, with his side continuing to underperform despite his hope that their fortunes and confidence had improved since the 2-1 win over West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
He told reporters: “I am angry at myself, I am angry at our performance.
“It’s obvious that we underperform individually. I don’t know where this performance today comes from.
“It’s a lack of hunger, intensity, a lack of determination to win duels to actually do the things on the highest level.
“You cannot expect to win games, not in the Premier League or Champions League. We are not where we want to be.”
The 48-year-old added to BT Sport: “Too much to analyze. I’m part of it. We are clearly not where we need to be. It’s on me, on us, we need to find solutions.
“At the moment everything is missing.
“It seems like this, it’s hard to argue against it (team sinks).”
Tuchel insists he didn’t underestimate Dinamo Zagreb, continuing: “Me personally not, but if we did we have a huge problem.
“I think it would be a much better atmosphere if we had all the stands full.
“The atmosphere was not key in making us underperform, it was a good atmosphere but with one stand completely clear, it was an advantage for us.”
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