"They had no answers" - Joe Cole makes worrying admission about Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea

Chelsea were shocked by Southampton in their Premier League clash on Tuesday (August 30), falling to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at the St Mary's Stadium. Following the setback, former Blues midfielder Joe Cole has said that it was the worst performance he has seen from the club under Thomas Tuchel.

It goes without saying that the Blues entered the game as the favourites after beating Leicester City 2-1 at the weekend, while Southampton lost to Manchester United 1-0. However, the unexpected happened, as the Blues failed to build on their momentum and got punished.

Things initially appeared to be going in Thomas Tuchel's men's favour when Raheem Sterling opened the scoring with a beautiful strike after 28 minutes. Unfortunately, a poor defensive display from the Pensioners allowed Romeo Lavia to restore parity only five minutes later.

Things got worse for the Blues when Adam Armstrong scored the winner for Southampton just before half-time to hand Tuchel's men their second defeat of the season. Reacting to the Blues performance, Cole reckoned that his fomer club were simply no match for the Saints.

“They had no answers,” the Englishman told BT Sport about Chelsea's display (via Mirror). “Southampton’s energy was outstanding, so many players outstanding. Chelsea started with a back four which was different and they looked off it with unforced errors and no cohesion. Kai Havertz didn’t look comfortable."

Cole expressed his disappointment with Chelsea's display at the Saint Mary's Stadium, saying it was the worst performance he saw from the team since Tuchel took charge two and a half years ago.

He said:

“Thomas Tuchel has a lot of questions to answer, there will be a lot of comings and goings before Thursday but it was as poor a performance as I’ve seen under Tuchel. "I can’t remember a chance in the second half. A very disappointing night,” the former Blues midfielder added.

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Chelsea desperate for reinforcements as transfer window nears closure

Another disappointing outing for the Blues

Having endured a rollercoaster ride since the Premier League kicked off this summer, it has become clear that Chelsea need to strengthen their squad to compete for titles.

With the transfer window scheduled to close in less than 48 hours, the Blues are moving swiftly in the market to get a couple of deals across the line. They have been heavily linked with the likes of Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Frenkie de Jong and Cristiano Ronaldo. It remains to be seen which players end up switching to Stamford Bridge in the coming hours.