Thomas Tuchel Criticises Chelsea's Decision Making And Precision Against Charlotte FC

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has criticised his side’s decision making and precision in their pre-season loss against Charlotte FC on Thursday.

Kick-off at the Bank of America Stadium was delayed due to storms in the local area, but the Blues were soon able to get their second game of the summer underway.

Christian Pulisic handed Tuchel’s side the lead in the first half, before a late spot-kick scored by Daniel Rios sent the match to a penalty shootout.

Chelsea soon lost against their MLS opponents and were therefore unable to make it two wins from two so far on their tour in the USA.

They will feel as though they should have won the match in normal time, having had a number of chances to put the game to bed before the late penalty.

It is also the third consecutive penalty shootout that they have lost in all competitions.

Such a performance did not impress the German boss, and he revealed his frustrations over the result afterwards.

When asked about how his side played and the use of penalties to decide the game, Tuchel said: "I knew, I knew. Some of the players didn't know! But we knew. 

“In general, I would say we played a good first half but unfortunately, only 80 metres of the pitch. The last 20 metres of the pitch were not good enough, even in the first half.

"We found a lot of spaces to accelerate and penetrate the box but we struggled with our decision-making and precision in the last 20 metres.

"This was simply not good enough for the effort and quality we showed in the first 80 metres of the pitch and the amount of space we had, and the number of attacks we created, there were not enough clear chances and deliveries in the last 20 metres.

"We also have to say we allowed two big chances out of nothing in the first half, otherwise I think we played a very good match in all the other aspects.

"Second half, it took us half an hour to show some quality and then it was maybe for ten minutes, so it was not good at all.

"Not offensively, not structure-wise, not in effort, hunger to be the dominant team. It was not good enough."

Raheem Sterling was able to make his first appearance in a Chelsea shirt having recently completed his move from Manchester City.

Fellow new signing Kalidou Koulibaly did not feature though, with Tuchel opting to make a variety of changes to the side at half-time.

The likes of Levi Colwill, Ethan Ampadu and Conor Gallagher all played minutes for the Blues, although the latter missed his respective penalty in the shootout.

Chelsea will now face fellow Premier League side Arsenal in the final game of their US tour, before travelling to Udinese for a friendly at the end of the month.