Thomas Tuchel 'refuses to be angry' after Chelsea held again by Brighton - 'Other teams will struggle to get points here... at full strength'

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel blamed a hectic fixture schedule for his side's lacklustre performance against Brighton.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Adam Webster' s second half header earned Albion a point after Hakim Ziyech had given the visitors the lead against the run of play.

Chelsea were outplayed for large periods but Tuchel was not disappointed with his players.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said his side has suffered from 'long term injuries' to 'key players', Covid-19 cases and have been affected by the fixture schedule.

Thomas Tuchel admitted that Chelsea 'were a bit lucky to be ahead' at half-time.(Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)Thomas Tuchel admitted that Chelsea 'were a bit lucky to be ahead' at half-time.(Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel admitted that Chelsea 'were a bit lucky to be ahead' at half-time.(Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

"We were mentally tired and physically tired," he told reporters. "You can see it our performance.

"We have two days off now. [They need that] so so badly. You can say it's an excuse but it's like this.

"You look at our schedule when we arrive at Manchester City. We had a match in between, they did not. Then we arrive here, they had more days to prepare.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We play since November. We need to recharge the batteries."

Tuchel was asked if he was 'fed up' about the situation. He responded: "It's hard to analyse games like this.

"We have to respect the opponent. They are very tough to play. Brighton played it like a cup game.

"The noise at the end was like we lost the game. It can be very easily give you the impression that we lost but we didn't lose.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Other teams will struggle to get points here. It's even tough when you're full strength and not tired.

"I simply refuse today to be angry. It's not about ambition."

Tuchel admitted that Chelsea 'were a bit lucky to be ahead' at half-time, adding: "You can take advantage and score a second one [but] we struggled to show the quality.

"We know the reasons behind it. We demand a lot for us but it's not the reason to be too hard on the team.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It's not only about playing. It's about travelling and not sleeping."

In an interview with BT Sport, Tuchel said Brighton were 'well prepared'.

He said: "[They] had more time to prepare for this match and you see at the end after the whistle, the stadium celebrated like it was a victory. That is what you face.

“We need our full strength to overcome these obstacles, so no blame for the team.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We tried everything, but you could see we were mentally and physically tired.”