Yahoo Finance Thomas Tuchel looking for swift Chelsea reaction in West Ham derby after Watford scare
Thomas Tuchel took the blame as Chelsea survived a scare at Watford and insisted there will be no hangover in their crunch clash with West Ham.
Hakim Ziyech’s second-half strike secured a 2-1 win at Vicarage Road to keep the Premier League leaders a point clear of Manchester City.
But Tuchel was infuriated by his team’s performance, admitting they did not deserve to walk away with three points.
“I had the feeling we were not ready,” said the German. “I am involved in that, I have to get the team ready. I didn’t prepare them for what was coming because it was the first time we completely underperformed as a team.
“We didn’t win first balls, second balls, we did not cope well with the pressure. It is one thing to win or lose challenges, but we did not even find them. We can admit today that we were lucky to win this game.”
Mason Mount fired Chelsea ahead against the run of play in the first half, but Emmanuel Dennis equalised before the break.
Tuchel will look for an immediate reaction when Chelsea travel to the London Stadium for Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off against West Ham, which could see them move four points clear at the top.
“It was a very unusual performance for us,” he added. “I will not focus long on this match because we play on Saturday again.
“I see this totally as an exception from the rule. I will not insist too long on this match because it’s so unusual for us to play like this.”
Chelsea will assess Trevoh Chalobah, who left the pitch clutching his hamstring on Wednesday night.
“The most worried I am is about the injury for Trevoh Chalobah,” said Tuchel. “It’s a big loss from Trev. I’m a bit worried.”
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