London, May 15 (BNA) – Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel said his team must learn how to be a consistent winner after losing the FA Cup final on penalties to Liverpool on Saturday, and said the penalties imposed on the club were making the task more difficult.
The London club has been in turmoil in recent months after Russian owner Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale and the British government subsequently imposed strict restrictions on the club.
Tuchel said Premier League leaders Liverpool and Manchester City are winning matches week after week, showing the fruits of their long-term planning, Reuters reports.
“They are very, very consistent and we are in the opposite situation at the moment, given the penalties. The players are leaving,” the German said.
Chelsea’s central defender Antonio Rudiger will leave the club at the end of this season and fellow defender Andreas Christensen is also expected to leave.
Tuchel changed Chelsea’s fortunes dramatically when he replaced Frank Lampard as coach in January 2021 and led the Blues to victory in the Champions League just four months later.
Chelsea reached the FA Cup final in 2021, when they lost to Leicester City, as well as the League Cup final in February of this year when they lost to Liverpool on penalties.
But they have struggled to find their rhythm in the Premier League and are in third place, 19 points behind leaders Manchester City and 16 behind Liverpool.
“We can give the best performances and we have the mentality in the club to shape the mentality of the players to give the best performances,” he said.
“But over the past years Man City and Liverpool have proven that you clearly have to deliver that at a level of consistency that we don’t have and we struggled with it.”
Tuchel said his side struggled in the first 15 minutes of facing Liverpool on Saturday when the Reds missed a series of chances before making their way back to what turned into a one-to-one match.
He praised his players for stopping “probably the most dangerous attacking team in the world” from scoring in two finals as both went into overtime within three months.