Cesar Azpilicueta says Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was not happy with the team after their first-half display against Tottenham.
Chelsea toiled in the first-half of Sunday’s game against Tottenham but dominated the club in the second period, easing to a 3-0 victory to maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign.
Thiago Silva, N’Golo Kante and Rudiger all got on the score sheet but Tuchel was not pleased with the first-half from his team, bringing on Kante to solve the issue of a lack of intensity on the pitch.
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After hearing the manager’s concerns, Azpilicueta was pleased with how they responded. He told Sky Sports: ‘He [Tuchel] was not happy, we were not happy with our performance.
‘Even though we were able to arrive around the box we did not shoot on target, they created a few chances where we could have conceded.
‘Even in duels we were not as good as we usually are. We were sometimes too open and it was something that we had to address.
‘Playing like this, we couldn’t expect to win the game. The best thing we could do was to arrive at half-time at 0-0.
‘The reaction was good, everyone is humble enough to accept this and go again and give a strong second half.’
Tuchel said after the London derby win: “I was absolutely not happy with the first 45 minutes.
“There were individual performances which were great in the first half from Kepa and Thiago Silva. Even more players were good but in general we lacked intent, energy and relentlessness in duels and 50-50 balls.
“I had the feeling we wanted to impress by pure skills but in derbies like this it is not always about just skills. It is about aggression, winning duels and performing better as a team. We spoke clearly about it at half time.
“In the second half it was a very good performance and a deserved win in the second half. It was a very good reaction so I am happy with the performance in the second half.”
