Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel claims he takes full responsibility for the defeat to Arsenal and insists he should not have made so many changes to his team ahead of the FA Cup final. The Blues fielded a rotated side for the visit of the Gunners to minimise risk of fatigue before this weekend’s clash with Leicester.
But Tuchel has admitted that he got his team selection wrong tonight and halted his side’s momentum following their impressive 2-1 win at Manchester City and Champions League semi-final triumph over Real Madrid.
Emile Smith Rowe struck the winner for the visitors following a mix up at the back between Kepa Arrizabalaga and Jorginho.
It was an uncharacteristic error at the back from the usually solid Blues and Tuchel intriguingly hinted that yesterday’s training session pointed towards a drop in performance levels.
“It wasn’t solely because of the changes, I felt it coming a bit yesterday,” he told Sky Sports.
“I’m a bit unlucky that it’s proven today on the pitch.
“I did not feel us in the same way, sharp with intensity like the previous games.
“We are on a good run and in a good mood and the choice were not too good today with the line up.
“It’s on me, we were unlucky of course and you can lose these games in football.
“We did everything today to lose.”
Tuchel then continued to confess his guilt over his team selection, which looks set to haunt him in the coming days.
“I’m not happy with my line up,” he added.
“It’s easy to say after the game but there were too many changes.
“We should not have done it like this.”
He then once again cryptically eluded to something happening on the training ground that has left him with a feeling of regret.
“It is something in particular but I don’t want to say,” he concluded.
