Chelsea star compared to Mesut Ozil in stinging criticism of ‘lazy and laboured’ display

Thomas Tuchel laments Chelsea's lack of rhythm in loss to Juventus

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Peter Crouch has branded Chelsea forward Kai Havertz as ‘lazy’ following a frustrating night against Juventus in the Champions League. Chelsea suffered a second successive 1-0 defeat in Turin on Wednesday, with Thomas Tuchel’s attack failing to break down the hosts’ resolute defence.

Federico Chiesa’s strike 10 seconds into the second half was the difference at the Allianz Stadium.

Despite Chelsea enjoying 73 per cent possession, they conjured up just one shot on target on a frustrating European night.

Fans were bemused by how Havertz lasted 90 minutes after losing seven of his 10 duels and missing a big chance.

After the game, criticism was mirrored on TV, with Crouch pinpointing the young German’s performance as a cause for concern.

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Crouch slammed Hakim Ziyech and Havertz’s displays in Italy, suggesting the latter tends to be ‘lazy’ in a comparison with former Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil.

He told BT Sport: “I thought Ziyech and Havertz were very disappointing.

“I think Havertz reminds me of Ozil, he does things where it comes easy to him and he looks technically brilliant.

“But he can also look lazy and laboured at times and he can frustrate you and I thought tonight they were frustrating.”

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Crouch added that Chelsea missed Mason Mount’s work rate and labelled his absence as ‘the difference’ on Wednesday night.

“He [Mount] has the same quality as those boys, but there’s more urgency,” Crouch continued.

“Tactically, he gets back in, he potentially works harder – he looks like he works harder. I think that’s the difference.

“Allegri got it spot on tonight, they defended very well and made it difficult for Chelsea to break them down.”

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel lamented his side’s lack of runners after failing to score for a second straight game.

He said: “We were lacking runners. Once we started to do other things, we made mistakes, and that cost us a bit of belief—a shooting problem.

“If we don’t shoot, they cannot be on target. If you play against a deep block like today, it’s hard to take shots.

“We found the spaces, it wasn’t easy. We had a lot of shots, but I think there are some chances late in the game where it wouldn’t have been so hard to find the target.”

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