Thomas Tuchel said his Chelsea team were bullied by Southampton on Tuesday and urged them to toughen up for future Premier League away games.
The Blues lost 2-1 at St Mary’s despite Raheem Sterling opening the scoring midway through the first half, as Romeo Lavia and Adam Armstrong struck to give the Saints their first home win over Chelsea since March 2013.
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Tuchel’s side lost their second consecutive game on the road, having been roundly beaten 3-0 by Leeds United on Aug. 21, and now sit eighth in the table.
The disjointed display was a far cry from their 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Aug. 14, when the Blues were unlucky not beat Spurs in a high-octane game which saw both managers sent off after the final whistle.
Since then, Chelsea have lost N’Golo Kante to a hamstring injury and picked up red cards in successive matches as Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off at Leeds before Conor Gallagher was dismissed in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Leicester City.
Reece James was also absent against Southampton due to illness. Tuchel likened the current situation to the aftermath of a 4-0 victory over Juventus in November 2021 as they won just four of their next nine games and lost players to injury.
