Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has challenged his side to compete in the Premier League title race, with the likes of Manchester United.
It’s ballsy stuff from the German coach – to be calling on his players to compete for the bread and butter of English football in his first full season at Stamford Bridge.
Of course, they’ve just won the Champions League, but nobody saw that coming. That just sort of happened, didn’t it?
Tuchel spoke to the media after Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season.
“We said during the last campaign that we set the bar high and we try to close gaps in the 90 minutes,” he said, as per the Manchester Evening News.
“This is the Premier League, the toughest competition and it is on us, I truly believe we are in the role of the hunters to close the gap to Liverpool, City and United.
“We have to do this week in, week out. We are not shy to say this out loud that we try to be the best in any competition that we play. There are three teams to close the gap to.”
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It’s great that United are suddenly part of the conversation but I’d prefer to go about our business quietly. The less talk the better, especially at the start of the season when it’s inevitable that teams will have their bumps along the way.
Although you can’t win the league in the opening weeks of the season, you can lose the chance to be involved in a title race.
We are all hoping for a competitive season this time around.
