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Thomas Tuchel’s Mourinho-esque start in his Chelsea career continued with a scoreless draw against Manchester United, who maintained our best defensive record (just 2 conceded in 9 games so far), but has also maintained our much less excellent attacking habits (just 10 scored in this same duration).
Granted, Manchester United are tough to beat on the road (20 unbeaten at Old Trafford now) and our recent record against them is rather poor (seven without a league win), but what ultimately decided this game was that unlike the Atlético. Madrid midweek, that moment of absolute quality has not arrived. And when you play in a way that creates few such moments, each one takes on the utmost importance.
“I felt we deserved to win, but at this level the details decide. Maybe there aren’t many chances and we needed a chance that we didn’t have either.
“It was a solid performance in the second half, good energy, a lot of courage, a very aggressive performance and a good performance in the second half.”
Taken in isolation, a draw is not the worst result, tying the result of the reverse game earlier this season and certainly improving our home and away losses last season.
But in the context of the current standings and our fight for the top four, two more points have dropped, and four points have dropped over the past two weekends, making the margins even tinier. As it stands, we’re still a point on fourth, but also now (probably) just one point ahead of sixth-place Liverpool, which we play next on Thursday at Anfield. (Liverpool are in action against bottom of the Sheffield United table right now.)
“Obviously that would have been a big step, but I can’t wish for results. United’s victory would have made the difference even bigger.
“We tried everything to win. We prepared everything to win, we did not talk about other matches, and we are in the middle of the battle for the top four.
“We closed the gap very, very quickly and now is the time to hang in there, to show performance every three, four days, and that takes a lot. We are still in the fight and that is the good news. It could have been a big step for us, but it is not the last step or the decisive step. “
-Thomas Tuchel; source: Football.London
Every point counts, of course, but we have 13 games left this season, and it will be an absolute grind. Steel yourselves.
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