Pundit lambasts Chelsea stars amid new Thomas Tuchel rant
Noel Whelan has insisted Thomas Tuchel was right to criticise his Chelsea players following another chastening 2-1 defeat against Southampton on Tuesday (30 August).
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, questioned the Blues’ “character, mental strength, and discipline”.
As quoted by the BBC (31 August), manager Tuchel insisted his players need to “toughen up and show a different mentality” after the Southampton loss.
He claimed it is “too easy to put us off balance, to beat us, to confuse us” in reference to his side’s “soft” display.
Chelsea lost in a similar fashion to Leeds last month – slumping to a 3-0 defeat at Elland Road.
Whelan insisted the catalyst the Londoners need to improve must come from the players rather than Tuchel.
He told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury: “I think Tuchel hit the nail on the head.
“Mental strength comes from within. It has to be the player to bring that to the table and onto the pitch for 90 minutes.
“You can’t train that, you can’t buy it – it has to come from the players.
“They had a fragility, a weakness about them. They can play all the football they want – and they’ve got great technical players – but you’ve got to have an element of character, mental strength, and discipline.
“They haven’t shown that recently. I think Tuchel is bang on to come out and criticise his players.
“It’s a competitive league and it’s becoming more and more combative – and teams like Chelsea have to rise to that.”
In other news, ex-Premier League referee on possible extended ban for Marc Cucurella as controversial Chelsea footage emerges.