Thomas Tuchel blames 'rusty' Chelsea star for Thiago Silva's ending off

Chelsea suffered a shock defeat to West Brom
Chelsea suffered a shock defeat to West Brom

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has blamed Jorginho for his 'two big mistakes' that led to the dismissal of Thiago Silva against West Brom. The Blues suffered a shock 5-2 defeat to the relegation-threatened Baggies, despite initially going ahead in the 27th minute.

The returning Thiago Silva was sent off for two bookable offenses inside the first 30 minutes but his manager laid the bulk of the blame at the foot of the midfielder.

Speaking to BT Sports about the sending off, the Chelsea manager said:

''I didn’t see the red card, I saw the two big mistakes in our own half before the yellow cards.
‘'That is not typical for us, we were rusty. We made easy mistakes and were punished. It was totally our fault. We did big mistakes before the two yellow cards. There were too many easy ball losses.’'

Silva's dismissal proved to be the catalyst for West Brom to come out of their shells but Jorginho made two errors in the buildup to both yellow cards for the Brazil international.

These were the mistakes being addressed by Tuchel as he spoke of Chelsea's sloppy defending against the Baggies.

‘'I did not see that second half coming. We tried to give a bit of security with a back three but we were never in a flow. We had some chances but we didn’t defend well.
''We could not adapt to the situation which is a surprise as we were leading. We are normally confident enough to defend but we were sloppy and kept making big mistakes. We were punished hard and it’s tough to digest.
'‘Every shot was a goal from them. Clearly it was not our day today. We will get the right response. First of all it’s important we digest it. I did not see it coming, now we have to take our responsibilities – me included – and shake it off.’'

Chelsea seeking to bounce back from West Brom shock with statement performance in Europe

Chelsea will take on Porto on Wednesday
Chelsea will take on Porto on Wednesday

The defeat to West Brom was the first suffered by Chelsea under the management of Thomas Tuchel. The Blues, however, do not have much time to lick their wounds as a marquee UEFA Champions League fixture awaits them on Wednesday.

The Stamford Bridge outfit will travel to Portugal to take on Porto. The Portuguese champions will be in buoyant mood, having successfully dispatched Juventus in the last round.

Unlike Chelsea, Porto secured a morale-boosting victory over Santa Clara, with Toni Martinez scoring a last-gasp winner to help his side pick up all three points.

A place in the semifinal awaits the winner, where they will meet one of Liverpool and Real Madrid.

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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava