Football NewsThomas Tuchel Acknowledges it was Difficult for Chelsea to ‘concentrate’ on their FA Cup Clash with Luton.
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Thomas Tuchel praised Chelsea’s preoccupied players for disregarding rumors of Roman Abramovich’s potential club sale in order to grind out an FA Cup victory at Luton Town.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich declared his intention to sell the club an hour before the game against Luton Town. Regardless, Tuchel acknowledged that his players deserved credit for remaining focused on the task at hand and on the pitch against Luton.

‘It was difficult because of the circumstances,’ Tuchel said. ‘You come from Wembley, the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, and then we gave the players a well-deserved day off.’

‘After that, you have one day to change your thoughts around and take on a new challenge.’

‘We also had a lot of guys out, so there were less defensive players, and the set-up and competitiveness were radically different.’

‘Of course, there was some noise today around the club, so it was difficult to concentrate. But I believe we did pretty well.’

‘We surrendered right away, but we had great chances to equalize and eventually take the lead.’

‘After conceding another goal, we stepped up in the second half and pushed and were relentless but never impatient, and we deserved to win.’

‘So great credit to us; we didn’t expect too much from ourselves, and we played a really humble, very serious match.’

Tuchel is hoping that Lukaku’s 11th goal of the season will help him regain his best form, with Werner also impressing against the Hatters.

‘I’m happy about Timo’s performance,’ Tuchel remarked. ‘Romelu scored a goal. That’s why we put them out on the field and left them there.

‘Right now, this is the most important match for them, even if they believe I should have played this or that match.’

‘We want them to give it their all and take this seriously.’ Because this is where you can boost your self-esteem and regain your confidence. And Timo performed admirably, and R scored his goal, so everything is fine.

‘And this is why they’re here, in cup matches like this where it’s difficult to show you’re the better team on a consistent basis.’ ‘Or maybe all the qualities you need to demonstrate in the small moments.’ Then you may forget about the game because you’ve advanced to the next round. This is what we accomplished, and it is for this reason that I am pleased.’

Nathan Jones, the manager of Luton Town, was pleased with his team’s performance. ‘They’re one of the biggest clubs in the world,’ he remarked.

‘They’re World Club Champions and Champions League Champions, and they’ve had to work extremely hard – extremely hard – to achieve their success.’ And the fact that we tested them is the most essential thing to us.

‘They have more quality and resources than we have, but I’m proud of the guys, pleased of the club, and proud of how the fans responded.’