Cesar Azpilicueta
Cesar Azpilicueta has given a damning verdict of Chelsea’s performance in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday. The Blues suffered their first loss of the season thanks to a Gabriel Jesus goal, with Thomas Tuchel’s negative tactics drawing strong criticism after the hosts failed to register a shot on target for the first time in the league under the German manager. The poor performance from the players themselves was also slated, and club captain Azpilicueta, speaking to Chelsea FC, has now had his say on his team’s lacklustre efforts:
Caesar Azpilicueta said: “We are disappointed with the result, it was not our best performance. Especially in the first 60 minutes it was hard to get out. We didn’t create chances, we lost the ball too easily. They dominated us. We could not keep the ball as we like to do or get out of the pressure and find some spaces. We made so many mistakes in terms of passing, in terms of touches. We tried to stay in the game but from a short corner we lost the game. After the goal we had a good reaction, we pushed a bit, but it was not enough to get something from the game. Sometimes when you play against tough opponents they play well, they are at their best level.”
As of Sunday evening, Chelsea sit third in the table, a point behind league leaders Liverpool and level with City, Manchester United and Everton. While this game was billed as an early title decider between the two favourites to win the Premier League, Azpilicueta believes that no matter what the result, Saturday’s game means very little in the long run.
Caesar Azpilicueta said: “We did not lose the league on Saturday, just as if we had won we knew we did not win the league on Saturday, so we have to keep working. Every competition is different, every game is a new challenge. Against City we lost, we are disappointed, we had the chance to get three important points but now we have to analyse it, improve on what we did not do that well and move on to the next game because it is a long season.”
Next up for Chelsea is an away trip to Juventus in the Champions League, before returning to Premier League action next Saturday against Southampton at Stamford Bridge.
