The blues recorded an emphatic 3-1 victory over the Italian side Udinese on Friday evening in Italy. Chelsea needed this win after losing 4-0 to Arsenal in the Florida Cup finals on Sunday.
The Friday win was Chelsea’s second win in their four pre-season friendlies. The blues have conceded seven goals and scored five goals in four pre-season games.
Two first goals from N’Golo Kante and Raheem Sterling gave Chelsea the early lead, the host reduced the deficit to one goal through Gerard Deulofeu. Mason Mount scored Chelsea’s third goal of the night in the 90th minute.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was impressed with Chelsea’s performance on Friday night, especially their two new signings.
What did Thomas Tuchel say about Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly?
Raheem Sterling scored his first goal in Chelsea shirt in the 37th minute and Chelsea’s second for the night. Reacting to his performance via Chelsea’s official website, Thomas Tuchel said: “Of course he had chances, was heavily involved in other chances. It was a good performance.
Kalidou Koulbaly was handed his first start for Chelsea following his £35 million to West London Club. The Senegalese international was deployed as one of Chelsea’s three-man back line along with Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta.
The 31-year-old played substituted in the 72nd minute and replaced by Chelsea youngster Harvey Vale. The Chelsea fans were seen already singing with the name of Kalidou Koulibaly.
Thomas Tuchel was excited about the performance of Kalidou Koulbaly, saying: “He deserves [it].
“He’s a very, very good signing, a strong personality, a strong player. I’m happy he could play 70 minutes he’s getting fitter and fitter which is very important for us at the start of the season.”
The Chelsea manager was also impressed with his side’s performance, reacting to their performance, Thomas Tuchel said: “Yeah we trained a lot this week, especially two days ago so we did not have the freshest legs.
“But we have a lot of positive things to take away from this game, I think. It’s a good performance, good result. We could have scored much more, should have scored much more but there’s a lot of positive stuff to take away.”
Thomas Tuchel also hinted that Chelsea will have a two-day break before their first Premier League game against Everton on Saturday 6th August.
The former Paris Saint German coach added: “Tomorrow we play another match here with another team to have the minutes in our legs, then two days break and we prepare nothing but Everton.”
Chelsea transfer target Jules Kounde was unveiled by Barcelona on Friday after completing a £45 million transfer to the Catalan Giants. The blues are eyeing Leicester City Wesley Fofana as the alternative to Jules Kounde.
There are also reports that Chelsea forward Timo Werner had agreed to reduce his wages by 50 percent to join his former club RB Leipzig. Chelsea had also agreed to pay 75 percent of Kepa Arrizabalaga’s wage as the Spanish Goalkeeper is set to join Napoli as the replacement of David Ospina.
