‘Cannot guarantee’ - Thomas Tuchel makes damning Chelsea claim ahead of Everton opening fixture

Thomas Tuchel has admitted he ‘cannot guarantee’ Chelsea will be 100% ready to face Everton on the opening day of the 2022-23 Premier League season.

The Stamford Bridge outfit suffered a heavy 4-0 loss to Arsenal last weekend during their pre-season tour of America.

Tuchel, who guided Chelsea to third place and two cup final defeats last term, questioned his players’ commitment levels after being humbled by the Gunners.

Chelsea have been in somewhat of a transitional period this summer under new owner Todd Boehly, while key defenders Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger have left for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.

Everton raise the curtain on the new top-flight campaign when they welcome the Londoners to Goodison Park on Saturday 6 August.

And Tuchel admitted he’s worried how his side are shaping up for the fixture.

What’s been said

As per BBC Sport, he said: “I am far from relaxed. We were simply not good enough. We were simply not competitive.

“The worrying part is that the level of commitment physically and mentally for this match was far higher for Arsenal than for us.

“They played I think what is their strongest line-up and structure that you see now for several weeks. This was the line-up they will try to start for Premier League games.

“It was surely not our strongest line-up. This is a part of an explanation but only a little part and the other part is worrying.

“I cannot guarantee we will be ready in two weeks.”

‘An urgent appeal for quality players’

Chelsea have signed Raheem Sterling from Manchester City for £45 million, as well as Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli for £33 million.

But after missing out on Raphinha to Barcelona, Tuchel urged he needs more reinforcements.

He added: “I look at the last season and parts of the game where we struggled, parts of the season where we struggled, and then we got sanctioned and players left us and some players are trying to leave us, and this is where it is.

“So we had an urgent appeal for quality players, a huge amount of quality players. We got two quality players but we are not competitive like this. Unfortunately you could see it today.”