Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has not ruled out making a signing in the remainder of the January transfer window, but stopped short of making any guarantees.
The Blues have seen their title charge come to a grinding halt in recent games, having not won any of their last four Premier League outings and only claiming victory twice from their last nine.
They now sit 12 points behind leaders Manchester City having played a game more, and a point behind second-placed Liverpool having played two games more.
When asked at a news conference ahead of Sunday’s game against Tottenham whether any January additions are likely, Tuchel replied: “I cannot say no to it. Also, I am not convinced it is a clear yes. Let’s wait and see.”
The game with Spurs at Stamford Bridge will be Chelsea’s 16th since the start of December, and Tuchel believes that the hectic schedule coupled with injuries has played a significant part in his team’s drop in form.
“The schedule that we had in particular was a bit too much,” he said. “At the same time we struggled with injuries, first in midfield then in the second period it was strikers and now it’s suddenly all defenders who are out. Yeah, it’s a bit awkward.
“We struggled to deal with it and find the same rhythm, find the same consistency in our results… but still the way we played and approached the games was always okay.”
4 – Chelsea (D3 L1) are now four Premier League matches without a win, the first time a Thomas Tuchel side has embarked on such a run since October 2016 during his time in charge of Borussia Dortmund. Discomfort. #BHACHE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 18, 2022
Following a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City last weekend and a 1-1 draw at Brighton on Tuesday, the former Borussia Dortmund coach gave his players two days off in preparation for the Spurs game, and confessed that he spent his time at the dentist.
“You really disconnect at the dentist,” he said. “It is hard to think about football when you are in the dentist chair.
“We needed [a break]. And I meant all of us. This is a team effort and I felt that the team was mentally tired, which I could understand. I felt them disappointed and frustrated after the result at City and it was harder for us to overcome the obstacles that for us are normal to overcome.
“There are reasons for it. Reasons that we talked about, reasons for which we cannot be blamed.
“I know it is always like this and we don’t want to make excuses, but we want to be adult enough and honest enough to look at the reasons why we feel this kind of fatigue.”
