Thomas Tuchel's calm authority vanishes amid troubling pre-season for Chelsea

Thomas Tuchel says he cannot recall a pre-season from his managerial career with such an alarming sequence of defeats as this summer.

After Arsenal powered past Tuchel’s Chelsea in Florida, with a quartet of unanswered goals, the German erupted: “I don’t know if I ever lost a match in pre-season 4-0. I can’t remember not winning two matches in a row.”

Arsenal’s muscle-flexing followed the loss, on penalties, three days earlier against Charlotte, newcomers to MLS.

Tuchel’s memory was letting him down. Some four years ago, when he was head coach at Paris Saint-Germain, he oversaw three successive summer defeats in warm-up games, including a 5-1 against Arsenal in Singapore, although the circumstances then were different. The fixtures took place post-World Cup and PSG were missing a number of senior players. The Paris club duly went on to win their league nine months later.

Chelsea, a club under new ownership and finding their bearings after six months of institutional turmoil, cannot assume such success, or even a domestic top-four status, as a matter of routine.

They won the Champions League under Tuchel in 2021, but where they currently stand in the hierarchy of the Premier League, let alone Europe, is becoming a grave concern to Tuchel. During the difficult change of ownership, finalised in late May, he distinguished himself for his calm authority. That image of Tuchel vanished at the weekend as he aimed sharp criticism towards his players, and some acid remarks towards those at the club now in charge of transfer strategy.

“We were absolutely not competitive – the worrying part is the level of commitment, physically and mentally,” said Tuchel in Orlando, ahead of the squad’s flight back to London from their US tour.