Thomas Tuchel says he and his players are doing their best to shut out the noise from outside the club during the current uncertainty and just focus on the things that are within their control, like picking up another three points against Newcastle United on Sunday.
With the prospect of a change in ownership and Chelsea facing restrictions as a result of Government sanctions against current owner Roman Abramovich, there is plenty of speculation and rumours swirling around the club at the moment.
However, Tuchel and his squad are trying to block out the uncertainties they cannot influence. Instead, he insists if there is a game to play their full attention will be on giving their all to keep succeeding on the pitch, by continuing the form that saw us win our fourth successive Premier League match, and ninth victory in 10 games in all competitions, at Norwich City on Thursday.
‘As long as we have a fixture and as long as we have enough shirts and as long as the bus is full of fuel we will be there, we will be competitive and we will be there in the best spirit because we love the game,’ said our head coach. ‘This is what everyone can be sure of and this is what we demand of ourselves. When it’s a big storm you dig in and you hold together and hold strong and get through it.
‘It’s always the best way for a football team, to carry on winning. Of course also for us it’s maybe at the moment a bit more difficult because of the noise. There will be some players who feel uncertainty, some will maybe be a bit frightened, some will be concerned. It’s normal.
‘It’s also not only about the players. We have a lot of people in the staff and in the club who are maybe also worried and scared and uncertain. That’s why it’s very important that we keep the trust and the belief in the training centre, in all of us, and we rely on ourselves and in the end allow ourselves to be the guys who take care of the sport, because we did not cause the situation, we cannot solve the situation.
‘So it can also I think give us a little bit the freedom in the end to still enjoy what we are doing and still follow the responsibility to give everything and what we demand from ourselves. This is what we do and I am happy that we can still produce results and performances. We will be on it again to be ready for Sunday.’
The match at the weekend will see us hosting Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, but after they invested heavily in their squad in January and appointed Eddie Howe as manager, it will be a very different Magpies side that visits west London from the one we beat 3-0 at St James’ Park earlier in the season.
As a result, Tuchel knows it is important to keep the focus on our efforts to secure three points against an in-form side, who remain undefeated in the Premier League this year after winning six of their eight games in the competition in 2022 so far.
‘It will be a difficult one because Newcastle is very strong. It’s a different Newcastle and they produce a lot of results so I’m expecting a very tough game.
‘At the moment we try to have the focus right and try to have the attitude right and the guys do this in a very impressive way and we need it on Sunday.’