Tuchel on Chelsea's struggles: 'Everything is missing'

Before Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea tenure officially ended, the German manager spoke candidly about Tuesday’s shocking 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb, questioning everything from his players’ desire to his own approach in what would be his last game in charge.

“At the moment, everything is missing,” Tuchel told BT Sport when asked what elements Chelsea currently lack.

Tuchel was fired Wednesday after 20 months in the job, and had no answers for the club’s woeful start to the season. Wesley Fofana, along with fellow summer recruits Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, failed to impress in a flat team performance that raised concerns over the £261 million the Blues spent this summer to retool the squad.

The loss to Zagreb follows defeats to Leeds United and Southampton in the space of 17 days. Aubameyang – signed on deadline day to address Chelsea’s issues up front – failed to make an impact in the Croatian capital, touching the ball just 20 times without registering a shot on target.

Tuchel made an effort to turn the tide in his team selection. In addition to handing Aubameyang his debut, he replaced Edouard Mendy with Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal and initially deployed Mason Mount in a deeper midfield role.

“I’m angry with myself, and I’m angry with our performance,” Tuchel said after the loss, according to The Guardian’s Ed Aarons. “This is a huge underperformance from all of us. It’s not precise enough, it’s not clinical enough, it’s not aggressive enough.

“It’s not determined enough, and not enough individually and not enough as a team, and that’s why we lose this game. It was the story of the last few games: We start OK for 15-20 minutes but then lacked determination, precision, and maybe even lacked the smell of blood.”

Chelsea travel to Fulham in Premier League action Saturday.