Starting tolerance and afterward changes to the strategies, in addition to the players’ Effort to make it work were vital to our success in the Club World Cup last says Thomas Tuchel, as he broke down a memorable win not long after the last whistle in Abu Dhabi.
He watched his side taken to extra-time when a Palmeiras penalty levelled up a Romelu Lukaku headed goal, but was spared the stress of a shoot-out to decide the contest when Kai Havertz made no mistake from the spot, with three minutes of the additional period left on the clock.
It was not lost on the boss that it was the second time a Havertz goal had decided a big final in Chelsea’s favour.
‘It was not easy to shoot that penalty,’ praised Tuchel.
‘I’m happy that Kai stepped up and took it the way he took it. This can only be good for his development.
But I have to say we never stopped attacking, never stopped trying and for extra time we changed the structure again and had a different structure to attack and to defend counter-attacks. The team did very, very well in extra time to control the match completely and the guys from the bench had a huge impact.
‘Of course if you have a late penalty you’re also lucky but I think we deserved it because we did not allow a lot of chances and we never stopped trying and never stopped being active and doing the most for the game.’
