Thomas Tuchel praises Chelsea’s ‘wild momentum and freedom’ in attack
Thomas Tuchel believes Chelsea have developed a “wild momentum and freedom” in their attack under his stewardship.
The European champions roared back to winning ways to maintain their place at the top of the Premier League with a convincing 3-0 win at Leicester on Saturday.
The Londoners were strong and fluid as they swept aside the Foxes with wing-backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell, against his former club, particularly impressive.
Manager Tuchel feels the effectiveness of the wide men – which on other occasions could be Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso – underlines how far the team have come.
The German said: “I think we understand better the whole team, me included, where we can take risks and change and adapt our positions.
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“That’s not to go fully over-confident or do crazy stuff, but we have a bit of wild momentum and freedom in our offensive movements.
“I think the wing-backs can adapt their positions to ‘half-positions’ to support our attackers. I think it is a matter of repetition and understanding from each other.
“They do very good, no matter who plays. Azpi and Marcos Alonso have had fantastic matches in this position and here it was ‘Reecey’ and ‘Chili’.
“We want to be dangerous and accelerate the game from certain spaces and so they are allowed to do it.”
After two weeks reflecting on their frustrating home draw with Burnley last time out, Chelsea looked like a side on a mission from the outset at the King Power Stadium.
Chilwell, booed by the home fans, hit the bar in the opening minutes and the visitors did not look back after Antonio Rudiger headed them ahead after 14 minutes.
Another former Leicester star, N’Golo Kante, fired a second after being allowed a free run towards the box and substitute Christian Pulisic put the result beyond doubt on 71 minutes.
Tuchel was pleased with the performance but felt victory should have been wrapped up earlier.
He said: “I thought we could be more precise, more clinical in the last third. We played with such effort and with a 2-0 lead you are comfortable, but you can never be too comfortable.
“One goal, one set-piece, one shot can change the whole momentum and suddenly you struggle when it is not necessary.”
For Leicester, the soul-searching goes on as they continue to lack the sparkle of recent seasons.
Manager Brendan Rodgers who has delivered two fifth-place finishes and the FA Cup, admitted after the game he was disappointed to hear some booing of the home team.
He also dismissed the suggestion speculation over his future – he was recently linked with Manchester United – might have affected his players’ performance.
Rodgers claimed the spirit of the team, who host Legia Warsaw in a crucial Europa League group game on Thursday, remained strong.
He said: “We are a team that will always have that spirit to keep going and I think you saw that, even though (the result) was disappointing.
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“In the second half they kept fighting, kept working and kept running right to the end. They were just beaten by a better side, a team that are playing at a high level and are fit and strong.
“We have to learn from that and it’s a great demonstration that, if you want to be a top player, that’s what a top player looks like.”
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