Tuchel: Chelsea have things to improve after Everton win

FT Desk

• 6 Aug 2022 20:30 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel admitted there was plenty of work to be done after his team squeezed past Everton in Saturday's Premier League opener.

A Jorginho penalty in the dying minutes of the first half proved the difference between the two teams, ensuring Chelsea would leave Goodison Park with a 1-0 victory.

But after a difficult 2022 their manager acknowledges that they will have to keep improving to stay competitive at the top of the table.

"A win is a win and this is super important. We played at Everton and we've struggled over recent years to get points here," Tuchel explained to Radio Five Live after the final whistle.

"We have things to improve but this isn't a. surprise. Most of the time I'm happy with the first half, the second we lost too many balls and weren't as dominant. We struggled physically but showed the spirit to get the clean sheet.

"There were some situations nobody could influence like a big injury for an Everton player [Ben Godfrey], the incident in the stands and we created confusion with the substitutions.

"Some things that maybe occur once in four weeks occurred in one match; there were seven minutes stoppage time first half, 10 in the second. It shows how disrupted the game was for both teams. It won't have been nice to watch."

Cucurella missed by new club

Chelsea fielded two of their new signings in Saturday's clash, as Kalidou Loulibably and Raheem Sterling both started following their summer transfers from Napoli and Manchester City.

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🔵 0-1 ⚪️ [90] #EveChe pic.twitter.com/34SqnyDFfO

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 6, 2022

Marc Cucurella also came off the bench to make his debut having moved from Brighton just before the season opener, and immediately made an impact down the left to provide one of the high points of the afternoon for the Blues.

Marcos Alonso was left out ahead of his expected move to Barcelona, leaving Ben Chilwell to get the nod for his first start of 2022 following an extended injury lay-off.

The full-back lasted just over an hour of the encounter before being withdrawn for Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tuchel will hope he and Cucurella can add much-needed depth down the left as Chelsea look forward to their next Premier League outing, Sunday's London derby at home to Tottenham.