Gary Neville says he would ‘hate to think’ Thomas Tuchel is under pressure at Chelsea but concedes the German coach will be a ‘little bit worried’ by his team’s recent struggle.
The Blues dropped more ground in the Premier League title race on Sunday as the London side were held to a goalless draw by Wolves.
Chelsea asked for the fixture to be postponed due to increase in coronavirus cases in the squad, but the request was turned down by the Premier League.
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Tuchel was forced to name a weakened side and only six substitutes and watched on as his team failed to win for the third time in four matches.
Chelsea were the early pacesetters at the top of the Premier League this campaign but now find themselves six points behind defending champions Manchester City.
Asked whether Tuchel is under any pressure at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea’s dip in form, former Manchester United Neville told Sky Sports: ‘I think he’s got enough credit in the bank.
‘I know it’s a club that does things very differently, but I’d hate to think that Thomas Tuchel is under pressure and they’re thinking of making a change, I can’t believe that to be the case.
‘I think he’ll be a little bit worried. I think mentally when you try to get a game called off and you’re then told to play it, I can’t think that will help the mindset in that game.
‘I know they didn’t have a full bench, and we’ll have to ask later why more young players couldn’t come onto it, but it was a strong Chelsea team.’
Tuchel conceded he was ‘angry’ at the Premier League rejecting Chelsea’s postponement request before the game and reiterated his belief that the game should not have gone ahead afterwards.
On Friday, the Chelsea boss confirmed Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell had all tested positive for coronavirus.
‘It is not safe,’ Tuchel said. ‘We talk about protecting players and a safe environment but it is not safe.
‘I would be not surprised if the next test shows up and we have more positives. How should it stop if we sit in the bus and have dinners and just stay together like nothing happened?’
The 20 Premier League teams are set to meet on Monday afternoon to discuss the escalating crisis around the coronavirus pandemic, according to reports.
