Thomas Tuchel has reiterated his stance that Chelsea’s ‘difficult’ pitch has been a factor in the club’s poor home form.
Tuchel criticised the state of the Stamford Bridge surface following Chelsea’s 4-2 defeat to Arsenal on Wednesday evening, the West London side’s third straight loss on home soil.
Chelsea return to action with another home clash against West Ham this weekend and Tuchel has again said the ‘difficult pitch’ is not in the home side’s favour.
“Maybe it sounds like an excuse but it is a very difficult pitch that we have here and it’s not in our favour,” he told his pre-match press conference.
The German was asked whether the problems with the pitch are to do with Chelsea’s takeover situation and current sanctions, but revealed the Blues have had issues with the ‘timing of the renewal’ of the pitch at Stamford Bridge this season.
“No, no. The demands are high from the manager, that’s the problem. We were struggling a little bit with the timing of the renewal [of the pitch] this season. So at the beginning of the season, the pitch wasn’t where we wanted it to be.”
