Jamie Carragher praised Thomas Tuchel for sticking to his brave game-plan after Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Liverpool and said his decision to start Timo Werner in place of Olivier Giroud paid dividends at Anfield.
Chelsea secured the win thanks to Mason Mount’s sublime finish in the 42nd minute and the result ensured Tuchel’s unbeaten record since replacing Lampard remained intact ten matches into his reign.
Werner proved to be a threat all night and he looked to have opened the scoring in the first half only to have his goal disallowed for offside.
On Chelsea’s impressive performance, Carragher told Sky Sports: ‘They looked a real top outfit, they really did. It was almost like a European team coming to Anfield.
‘I’ve played in games like that myself where you think you’re going to get after a team and everyone is short. That’s what it felt like tonight watching Liverpool.
‘You could maybe criticise Liverpool’s press or look at Chelsea’s quality. ‘I’d look at Chelsea’s quality and very rarely did Liverpool really get someone, nick the ball off them and put them in any kind of trouble.
‘It was very brave of Thomas Tuchel to come here and play like that. That’s his way of playing, he’s not going to change and I’ve said that before the game.
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‘He’s had some tough games here himself so he knows what it’s like playing against Jurgen Klopp. ‘He’s been here with PSG and with Borussia Dortmund so he didn’t change his game-plan, he’s been very brave.’
‘His big decision was playing Timo Werner as a centre-forward for the first time since he took the job and it paid dividends,’ Carragher added.
Chelsea moved into the top four on the Premier League table with the result, while Liverpool remain in seventh.
‘You saw the game – it was a tight one, it was a close one, it was an intense one,’ Jurgen Klopp told BBC Sport after the final whistle.
‘We forced them to make mistakes, they forced us to make mistakes. They used one, we didn’t use ours.
‘Against Chelsea, it would be surprising to play them off the pitch – but we were in the game. ‘It is just annoying to talk about the same things again and again. It is tough. We have to fight through this.’
