Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was very blunt in assessing his own team last night, during the aftermath of their 3-1 loss at Real Madrid.
“What I saw from us at Stamford Bridge, we can’t play at this kind of level,” Tuchel said. “By far not enough. Far, far, far from our standards. … The intensity and challenges, the desire, how we close spaces. The first half was so far from any standard we set for ourselves that we cannot complain.”
Chelsea FC at Southampton FYIs
Kick: Sat Apr 9, 3pm, St. Mary’s
Chelsea Preview Material: Starting XI Prediction Team News
After Extra Time Podcast: Spotify Apple Podcasts
PL Form: Chelsea LWWWW Southampton DLLLW
PL Position: Chelsea 29mp, 59 pts, 3rd Southampton 30mp, 36pts 12th
Result Probability: Chelsea 50 Southampton 24% Draw 26%
So where do they go from here? Well, Saints are a mid-table team, so not the strongest opposition in the world, but right now the Blues are looking like a lower table side.
Anyway, here’s our best guess as to who Tuchel might select for his first team against Southampton on Saturday.
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction at Southampton FC
Mendy; Christensen, Chalobah, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kovacic, Jorginho, Alonso; Ziyech, Lukaku, Pulisic
Fearless Prediction
Southampton 1, Chelsea 1: at least the Blues should get some kind of result here.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.