Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel could not hide his emotion and took aim at Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi and other players after substituting both players in their 1-1 draw with Southampton.
Mason Mount cancelled out Minamino’s opener with a penalty in the second half to ensure Tuchel’s unbeaten record remained intact but the coach cut a frustrated figure on the touchline at St Mary’s.
Abraham was taken off at half-time and while he was later seen with an ice pack around his ankle, Tuchel said the substitution was not injury-related. And Hudson-Odoi, who came on for the striker lasted just 30 minutes before being hauled off.
Asked whether he was worried about Abraham’s fitness ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid, Tuchel told BT Sport: ‘I’m not concerned about Tammy, it [the substitution] was not from injury.
‘It was hard for him to show his quality and we were not happy with the last 20 meters. ‘Tammy could not put his stamp on the game so we changed the formation a little bit, we brought in Hudson.’
‘With Hudson, I was not happy with the energy and the attitude and the counter-pressing so we decided to take him off again because we demand a lot,’ Tuchel went on.
‘We demand 100 per cent and I had the feeling that he is not right in this shape where he can help us. ‘So the decision for today, it’s a hard decision for the players to come on and off but tomorrow it will be forgotten and he has all possibilities to start the game against Atletico.’
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Tuchel continued his attack at his post-match press conference but said ‘nothing will stick’ and that Hudson-Odoi would be given the opportunity to redeem himself on Tuesday.
The Chelsea manager added: ‘In a game where it’s hard to create chances, you need to rely on the counter-pressing to force errors and to get the second ball and get a easy chance after the ball win.
‘For that you need to be totally on and totally sharp for counter-pressing. ‘I did not feel this from Callum today. He missed some opportunities for counter-pressing, he lost some easy balls.
‘I had the feeling he was never really into the game. You know that I trust him a lot because he plays every game for us but today I was close to him and I don’t know, maybe it’s unfair, but I did not get the feeling I normally get from him, that he can be decisive.
‘So it’s a hard decision today but nothing that will stick between us or stick for long. Tomorrow it’s forgotten and we prepare for Atletico.’
On whether he was concerned about denting Hudson-Odoi’s confidence by subbing him off, Tuchel replied: ‘No, absolutely not. ‘Everybody needs to understand that I take decisions to win games.
‘It’s not a problem that he does mistakes or that he has a bad game or that he does a miss but he cannot lack energy.
‘We cannot lack energy 5-10 per cent, it’s not possible. I know what he can give, that’s why I trust him a lot and this will not change but he knows exactly what I demand from him and when he does not reach this level, maybe we have a hard decision.
‘There’s no need to think in old-fashioned terms that this is worst thing that can ever happen. No, it happened today and maybe he starts against Atletico if we need his qualities but then he needs to be trustworthy and reliable and this is the next step for him.
‘He’s a bit in trouble when he comes from the bench. It was like this against Sheffield United and it was like this today so it’s on him to improve because we need him in some games from the bench.
‘Then he needs to hang in in a different way. So now it’s forgotten, he needs to step up, learn from it, accept it, swallow it and there’s no problem.’
