Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has told Football.London that he felt his team ‘forgot to bring the right attitude’ in the first half against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Blues picked up a 3-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday afternoon, running riot in the second half.
Thiago Silva, N’Golo Kante and Antonio Rüdiger all found the net in the second half to give Chelsea a thumping victory.
Tottenham barely laid a glove on Chelsea after the break, with Tuchel ultimately getting the better of Nuno Espirito Santo.
Tuchel comments on Chelsea mistake against Tottenham
Tottenham did though start the game with great intensity. They were quick, aggressive and pressed high, pinning Chelsea back at times without necessarily testing Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Tuchel responded by hooking Mason Mount at half time for N’Golo Kante.
Tuchel suggested after the game that he felt his team simply forgot the attitude needed to win a derby game.
The German felt Tottenham had that early on and were losing too many 50/50 duels, but Chelsea eventually found what they needed to win.
“We did not change the system, but maybe that’s the whole point. We just changed the system with more belief, more quality, sharper,” said Tuchel. “We relied on skilful play in the first half and I felt we forgot to bring the right attitude to this game.”
“As a team, we gave away too many chances. We had the feeling every 50/50 duel went against us and that had to change. If you have N’Golo on the bench and you want to step up these patterns of the game, he’s the player you bring.”
“We wanted to improve our compactness, our ball wins, have a higher intensity and workrate in our match to win balls actively and play the match in the opponents’ half. The reaction was needed and we showed it. We played a very strong second half to deserve this win,” he added.
Tottenham’s intensity drops off
Chelsea really ramped up their game in the second half, and Tottenham just couldn’t compete.
Tuchel made the ultimate change to alter the intensity of his side – bringing on Kante.
Not that Mason Mount is poor in that regard, but adding Kane changed the game.
Kante joined Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic in the middle of the pitch, and Chelsea dominated the midfield battle from then on.
Tottenham couldn’t match the intensity of their first half display, meekly fading away as Chelsea and Kante ran the show in the second half.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
