Thomas Tuchel was proud to see his Chelsea side frustrate ‘maybe the most dangerous attacking side in Europe’ during Sunday’s EFL Cup final defeat to Liverpool at Wembley, speaking to Football London.
As far as entertaining 0-0s go, this was right up there.
Sitters missed, world-class saves, and what felt like 30 goals ruled out for a whole variety of infringements, it took a tense penalty shoot-out to separate a pair of Premier League rivals after two hours of thrilling football in the national stadium.
And it’s difficult to recall a tactical decision that has backfired as spectacularly as the one Thomas Tuchel made during the dying seconds of extra time.
Kepa Arrizabalaga was brought off the bench to make a difference in the penalty shoot-out. And he certainly did that.
Just not in the way Tuchel expected, the goalkeeper channelling his inner-Jonny Wilkinson after failing to keep out any of the previous 10 spot kicks, including one smashed into the top corner by opposite number Caoimhin Kelleher.
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“We have to accept the quality of the opponent,” Tuchel sighed at full-time, the continent-conquering manager missing out on the chance to add a domestic title to his Champions League winners’ medal.
“This is maybe the most dangerous attacking side at the moment in Europe. They are full of individual quality and playing at a high rhythm.
“So defending like this, playing like this at this level made me very proud today. I saw a brilliant match of football over 120 minutes and we played a huge part of it.
“We can’t have any regrets. I am proud of the performance and the team. There are a lot of good things and I told the guys we should not lose sleep about this. It was an entertaining match of football that was full of intensity and I am very, very happy to have had the chance to be part of this. It was excellent.”
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Tuchel insists that no one at Stamford Bridge will be taking their frustration out on poor, put-upon Kepa, pointing out that even the world’s greatest goalkeepers would have struggled to keep out any of Liverpool’s laser-guided spot-kicks.
“We feel bad for him, but no blame,” adds the former Dortmund and PSG coach.
“We took the decision like we did last time in a penalty shootout because Kepa is training with the players (on penalties) on a daily basis. They know how good he is.
“He has simply more time on the training ground to do this than Edou (Mendy). Everyone knows how good he is.
“Unfortunately, he couldn’t make a save. Their penalties were brilliantly taken. And it was a bit harsh on him that he was the guy to miss the one and only penalty. But there is no blame.”
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