Thomas Tuchel has admitted that he has no doubts regarding Raheem Sterling after the forward made his first appearance for Chelsea against Charlotte FC.
The winger played the second half for Chelsea, and looked direct with his runs and movement across the attacking three.
Sterling could have got on the scoresheet but was denied by the Charlotte FC goalkeeper before the Blues conceded in the final moments of the match, taking the clash to penalties.
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Conor Gallagher’s penalty miss saw the Blues fall to a 5-3 defeat in the shoot-out but Tuchel was disappointed by the loss.
He told football.london: “In general, I would say we played a good first half but only 80 metres of the pitch. The last 20 metres were not good enough.
“We struggled with our decision making and precision in the last 20 metres.
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"There were not enough chances, not enough clear chances.
“We allowed two big chances out of nothing, this was the point of the very first. Otherwise I thought we played a very good match. Second half it took us 30 minutes to show some quality and then it was maybe only for 10 minutes. So not good, not good at all.”
However, the German was complimentary of Sterling, who he believed was a positive spark in his attack.
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“I saw four accelerations in the second half I think and they all came from Raheem,” he continued.
“There is not need for major doubts or criticism, but it's never important what the manager has in his head ahead of pre-season.”
Chelsea will be hoping to bounce back from the disappointment when they face Arsenal on Sunday morning (UK) in the Florida Cup final.
Sterling’s fellow new signing, Kalidou Koulibaly, will be hoping to make his first appearance after signing from Napoli last week.
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It remains to be seen as to whether Tuchel will secure any further additions to his squad before the final match of their pre-season tour as Chelsea look to compete at the top end of the Premier League next season.
Sevilla defender Jules Kounde looks the most likely to join the club, being heavily linked with a move to London in the coming days.
Chelsea will face Udinese in Italy at the end of July for their last match of pre-season before shifting focus to the first match of the Premier League season.
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The Blues face Everton as they look to start the 2022/23 campaign as they mean to go on, hoping to challenge at the top of the Premier League table.
Topics: Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, Football
Nick Emms