Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel slams flops after Southampton defeat and tells them to ‘toughen up’

CHELSEA boss Thomas Tuchel has ripped into his side following their 2-1 defeat against Southampton as he declared they have to “toughen up”.

The Blues were once again outclassed as the Saints came back from behind to claim all three points at St Mary’s.

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Raheem Sterling had put the visitors ahead in the 23rd minute with an effort from close range.

It was his third goal from his last two matches, but Chelsea’s lead lasted just five minutes.

Belgian midfielder Romeo Lavia fired in an exquisite effort from outside the box in what was the 18-year-old’s first senior goal.

The comeback was complete just before the break when Adam Armstrong’s strike deflected off Kalidou Koulibaly and into the top corner.

Chelsea failed to create anything after going down, and would have conceded more if not for the goal-line heroics from Marc Cucurella and Thiago Silva.

Tuchel’s men have now lost two out of their opening five games in the Premier League to leave them eighth in the table.

Should Arsenal beat Aston Villa at the Emirates on Wednesday night, Chelsea will be eight points behind their London rivals.

And Tuchel has failed to hide his anger after their loss on the south coast, as he told BBC Sport: “It is not enough to win away matches, it is not enough to play 20-25 minutes on the level we want.

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“It is too easy to put us off balance, to beat us, to confuse us. It is too easy. It happened against Leeds. We need to understand why and find solutions.

“We lose concentration, we lose our plan and lose consistency, it is too easy to beat us.

“A lot of key players are injured, it is something I don’t really understand.

“You can always lose football matches and I am humble enough to admit this but in a match where you are in the lead there is no need to give away half chances.

“To have no answers in the second half was disappointing.

“We need to have answers, we need to step up and play a level higher if needed. We struggled to do this.

 “Soft, soft, soft defending. There is no need to give shots away. Just toughen up as a team and show a different mentality.”