Thomas Tuchel has described his side first-half performance as ‘very hungry, very aggressive’ after thrashing Crystal Palace 4-1.
The blues’ first 35 minutes gave them control of the game against Crystal Palace. Chelsea were 3-0 up in the first half but Palace stepped up in the second to score a consolation.
Tuchel reacted after the match that they started excellently but they lost a lot of chances.
“First half an hour we were excellent, first 35 minutes, very hungry, very aggressive, good ball possession and lot of recoveries in the last third that led to a lot of chances. It was a well-deserved lead,” Tuchel said.
“Clearly we had many chances today, the guys were hungry and very creative. We had a lot of good runs and movement. It was a step forward but you have to earn it every game and every game starts new,” he explained.
Tuchel was happy again after last weekend’s 5-2 disappointment at the hands of West Bromwich Albion. However, he challenged Kai Havertz to ‘show his quality’ more regularly, claiming he could have scored a hat-trick.
“I’m a bit, not disappointed, but he (Havertz) could have actually scored more. Two big chances right to finish the game off and to even score more,” Tuchel claimed.
“This is the way. He has absolutely the quality and he needs to show his quality. This is the challenge for him,” he urged.
“We were very hungry, full of confidence, and we wanted to play a very aggressive game. Not just a ball possession game but in terms of ball wins and high recoveries. And we were totally focused and totally on. I was very happy with the attitude today,” he continued.
On Havertz’s performance generally, he said, “There is still room to improve in finishing. He can be more ruthless. He should have scored more, but it was a good step and a good performance.”