Timo Werner Chelsea
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories – Thomas Tuchel reveals relief that Timo Werner goal was not disallowed by VAR #ChelseaFC

October 3, 2021
THOMAS Tuchel has revealed Chelsea's "relief" at Timo Werner scoring his first Premier League goal since February. Werner tapped in Cesar Azpilicueta's cross with the goal that effectively sealed Chelsea's 3-1 win over 10-man Saints at Stamford Bridge. Ben Chilwell then fired in a late third to atone for conceding a penalty that was converted by James Ward-Prowse to tee up a tense finale. Ward-Prowse was later sent off for a late tackle on Jorginho, and Chelsea pounced on the numerical advantage to move top of the Premier League table. Werner has seen a league-high 16 goals disallowed since joining Chelsea in 2020, the latest of which came in the first half against Saints. Tuchel hailed Werner for his persistence, but also admitted the Germany striker must still improve. "Yes we are all relieved, him and me and the whole club," said Tuchel. "Every time he scores we have the feeling there is a VAR decision to take it away from him, there have been a lot of very narrow decisions. "I remember one against Liverpool that was super close. "He has to keep on going and a lot of things to improve. "We're happy and relieved that he scored. "It was very, very important goal for us to secure the win. And on the other hand he was there when he needed to be."
Ralph Hasenhuttl
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories – #ThomasTuchel reveals personality of #RalphHasenhuttl as a funny person #ChelseaFC #SaintsFC

October 2, 2021
CHELSEA boss Thomas Tuchel is looking forward to meeting up with "very funny guy" Ralph Hasenhuttl when Saints visit Stamford Bridge tomorrow. The pair previously worked in the Bundesliga at the same time when Hasenhuttl's Leipzig faced off against Tuchel's Borussia Dortmund. Speaking to the Daily Echo last week, Hasenhuttl revealed he also watched the Ryder Cup in Paris with Tuchel in 2018, when the now-Chelsea boss was in charge of PSG. Asked about his relationship with Hasenhuttl, Tuchel said: "We meet each other now regularly because we played against each other in the Bundesliga and now here and we met once in Paris for some days, we meet of course in coaches’ meetings. "He’s a very friendly, very nice guy, very humble, very entertaining also, a very funny guy. "The teams he trains have always the same philosophy. It’s high intensity, it’s very aggressive, it’s about ball recoveries and this is on a very high level. "They have a very fast team, a very aggressive team, they had good results against both Manchester teams, so this is what we are expecting, a good team with a good coach and a nice guy, but that does not count for 90 minutes." Tuchel added: "We have developed some ideas and some solutions of course to deal with this high pressure. In general you need to be absolutely aware of it. "You don’t have time to think when you’re on the ball, we need to anticipate situations, we need to be very good in the timing and distance of our passing, if we want to escape high pressure in our own half. "It can also be a possibility to use long balls to escape high pressing, but then you need to have a good position before. The most important thing is that we are aware and that we don’t judge teams by their name or their ranking or their previous results, but we talk about what we see and their behaviour and we need to be aware of an aggressive and an intense team. "We want to also have the answer to the pressing from Southampton with counter-pressing and to give them a taste of their own medicine, also because it is a part of our game."
Ralph Hasenhuttl
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories – #RalphHasenhuttl remembers opportunity to play with Chelsea under #GlenHoddle #SaintsFC #ChelseaFC

October 2, 2021
RALPH Hasenhuttl recalled a brief period he spent training under Glenn Hoddle at Chelsea, admitting: "It's absolutely understandable that he didn't sign me!" Hasenhuttl is set to take Saints to Stamford Bridge tomorrow (3pm), having proven his qualities to become a Premier League manager. But it was not quite the same story as a player, when the Austrian international striker attempted to impress at Hoddle's Blues during the 1990s. Asked if he was upset that Hoddle did not offer him a contract, Hasenhuttl replied: "Does he remember this!? That I was there once? "Oh my God. I don’t know, I was not such a big number to be honest. "So it’s absolutely understandable that he didn't sign me, to be honest! "For the qualities I had, I don't know! "I would really like to have played in the Premier League, definitely. "And if he had told me at that time that I will return one time as a manager in a Premier League club, I would think he was a little bit crazy. "So I did it and this is fantastic because I always loved English football and to be here as a manager I can definitely accept that I wasn't good enough as a player! "It's even better that I'm good enough as a manager to be here." Hasenhuttl is unbeaten at Stamford Bridge as a manager at Saints, registering one win and two draws so far.
Tino Livramento
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories – #ThomasTuchel reveals Chelsea tried hard to keep #TinoLivramento before transfer to Southampton #ChelseaFC #SaintsFC

October 2, 2021
THOMAS Tuchel insists Chelsea did "everything" to try and keep Tino Livramento at the club this summer. The highly-rated academy product opted to leave his boyhood club to join Saints, in a deal reportedly worth an initial £5million. Teenager Livramento, who never made a senior appearance at Chelsea, has proven to be a revelation at Saints, starting every Premier League match so far. He looks set to face his former club tomorrow, when Saints head to Stamford Bridge. Discussing Livramento, Blues boss Tuchel said: "He was highly rated, we did everything to keep him here, to show him his future and his possibilities to compete also for a position in our team. He decided to go, that’s his decision, sometimes you have to accept it, there are no hard feelings. "He was of course competing with Reece James and Azpi (Cesar Azpilicueta) in the right-wing-back position. I think it was an ideal position for him to fight and the group is not too big so there was a big chance also to make it all the way. "If Tino decided to go, it’s fair enough, he does very well, we wish him all the best. Of course we saw the potential, he decided to go another way and fight for his place in Southampton and that’s how the business is."
Ralph Hasenhuttl
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories – #RalphHasenhuttl wants Southampton to take their limited chances when playing against Chelsea #SaintsFC #ChelseaFC

October 1, 2021
CHELSEA go into Saturday’s contest with Saints on the back of a rare two consecutive losses and without a win in three, as Ralph Hasenhuttl highlights: “It’s a very important game for them now.” Thomas Tuchel’s Champions League-winning Blues have been on the receiving end of back-to-back 1-0 losses, but they were against reigning English champions Manchester City and Italian giants Juventus. Before that, they drew 1-1 with Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup and needed penalties to edge past the Birmingham side. The result has seen Liverpool, who are the only unbeaten team remaining, climb to the top of the Premier League table at this early stage – but Hasenhuttl knows that Tuchel will be keen to put right those wrongs and keep pace with the title-challengers. Read more  Speaking ahead of the contest, the Austrian boss said: “Yeah I think for them is a very important game now and that they lost twice I think unusual to have this situation. It ends in defeat in Turin. #JUVCHE pic.twitter.com/WHYXBdznT8 — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 29, 2021 “For us it's again a game against one of the top six top teams in the league, a Champions League winner, a little bit under pressure after two times not winning and we go there like every year with a lot of respect, but also believing in what we are doing and this is how we want to create another positive result in this ground.” Saints themselves go into the affair off the back of a first loss in all competitions since the opening day of the season, but still without a win – a run that could now stretch into the second international break of the term. Moussa Djenepo clapped fans as he exited the field after defeat to Wolves (Pic: PA) Hasenhuttl’s side haven’t hit the net in three, either, with two 0-0 draws against good opposition before going into the Wolves fixture at St Mary’s. He added: “Yep this is right, don't know what hurts more, when you have the chances but don't score or you don't create chances. “For me, as a manager sometimes it's better to see that we have chances but in the end there are some things missing, especially our filling up the box is not always good enough with players and I don't think that we will get that many chances against Chelsea at the weekend. German defender Antonio Rudiger has flourished under Thomas Tuchel (Pic: PA) “A completely different game against a strong side but yeah this is what we have analysed after the game, knowing that on this weekend we have to have different things to deliver I think. “I think it was 60 minutes a good game from our side (against Wolves), we had maybe the bigger chances but after the goal, last 30 minutes, we couldn't manage to create again chances and turn things around. “I think a few we had but not enough against a defending team, very disappointing result for us, a setback a little bit after four very good games we played and yeah we have to turn things around, especially our goal scoring stats are not the highest at the moment so we have to work on this.”
Tino Livramento
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories – #TinoLivramento reveals reasons for leaving Chelsea and joining Southampton #ChelseaFC #SaintsFC

September 9, 2021
SAINTS star Tino Livramento continued his rapid recent rise with a debut for England's under-21s. The 18-year-old completed a £5million move from Chelsea to St Mary's over the summer, and instantly broke into the starting line-up. He has not missed a minute of Premier League action this season, despite having previously never played a senior competitive match before in his career. Livramento has shone in his three outings so far, his early form earning him a call-up into Lee Carsley's England under-21s squad. And the right-back, who had made appearances for England from under-15s through to under-19s, now has his first cap for the level immediately below the senior side. Livramento came off the bench to replace PSV's Noni Madueke for the final seven minutes as Carsley's Young Lions kicked off their Euro 2023 qualification campaign with a 2-0 win over Kosovo in Milton Keynes. England sealed victory thanks to goals from Rhian Brewster and Cole Palmer. Speaking to the England football website about his recent rise, Livramento said: “Pulling on the England shirt means everything (to me). “When you are young, you dream of doing things like this as a footballer and right now it (playing for England) is the biggest stage I can go to. "I am proud that I am representing my family and myself. “Captaining England (at under-18s level) was probably the proudest moment for me so far. It tops everything. "Just walking out there and not only playing but being captain brings out a different side to me that I don’t usually bring when I am not captain. "I was talking more and it was a good experience because I think it has brought a different side to my game that maybe I was missing. “It was the proudest moment for me so far.” Discussing his first call-up to the under-21s, Livramento added: "To get to that next step with England was quite a surprise but it was a massive thing for me and my family. “It has obviously been a crazy couple of months but even though it is a big thing to be playing in the Premier League, at Southampton it has been easy to settle in because of everyone there and the coaches and playing staff. “Getting the England call-up was even more of a massive thing for me. So I am trying to take everything in my stride and keep moving forward.” Quizzed on his decision to leave Chelsea for Saints over the summer, Livramento explained: "Every single year, I have a routine of setting goals and there is only so much you can do at youth level. “Me and my dad sat down in May and we spoke and thought the next step would be for me to push into a Premier League team and we felt the better route for me was to leave Chelsea. “It wasn’t easy obviously as I have been a fan for as long as I can remember and been a player there since I was seven. “I never thought that I would be playing straight away (at Saints) but you have to take everything in your stride and you cannot hide when you get that opportunity. You have to take it. I hope I can keep doing that. “At Southampton, luckily with the manager, the staff and the players, it has come together quite nicely.” Livramento will be hoping to keep his place in Saints' starting XI for the visit of West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday (3pm).