Tuchel aims to harness Chelsea ‘anger’ in FA Cup final
Thomas Tuchel said he would lead an “angry” Chelsea into today’s FA Cup final after defeat by Arsenal dented their Premier League top-four hopes. The Blues boss admitted preparations for the match against Leicester at Wembley would be made easier by his team’s frustrations following Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat.
“We all feel that anger on ourselves on the missed opportunity and the performance that night against Arsenal,” he said. “So it’s a good thing, in that it’s easy to prepare. Now the challenge is to focus, focus only on this match, focus on us and play on the edge.”
But he added: “I will not get carried away with emotions tomorrow. I am fully focused to prepare my team better than we did two days ago.”
The former Paris Saint-Germain manager has steered Chelsea to both the FA Cup and Champions League finals in just four months at the helm. They are fourth in the Premier League and still in a strong position to qualify for next season’s Champions League, but Wednesday’s defeat at Stamford Bridge makes their task tougher, giving Liverpool fresh hope.
Tuchel welcomed the availability of midfielders Mateo Kovacic and former Leicester star N’Golo Kante for the Wembley showpiece. Croatia star Kovacic has missed nine matches with a hamstring problem while Kante was kept out of the Arsenal match due to a painful Achilles issue.
“The whole group is available, Kova is with us again,” said Tuchel. “It’s huge because Mateo has everything that we need in midfield. He has experience, power, acceleration, deceleration, he can dribble the ball and beat players. He’s fast, he has physical ability and he’s experienced in big games and in the Premier League. When we missed N’Golo and Mateo in the same match we lacked a lot of quality, energy and experience.”
Tuchel’s side will face third-placed Leicester again on Tuesday in a crucial Premier League encounter, with the Blues boss describing them as “two finals”. “There’s the final for the cup and the final for the top four,” he said.
Leicester, two points above Chelsea in the Premier League, will pose a significant threat to Tuchel’s ambitions under the astute guidance of boss Brendan Rodgers. The Foxes are aiming to win the FA Cup for the first time in their first final appearance since 1969.
No club have appeared in more FA Cup finals without lifting the trophy than Leicester, who have lost four times in the showpiece match. In contrast, Chelsea have won the FA Cup eight times, with their last victory coming against Manchester United in 2018. The Blues, beaten in last year’s final against Arsenal, will be making their fourth appearance in the competition’s denouement in the last five years.
Rodgers also has Leicester’s top-four ambitions, but the chance to create history will be his only focus at Wembley. “We have earned the right to be in the final and we will arrive with an opportunity to make our own history. We feel we’re in with a chance and if we can play to our level we have a great chance,” Rodgers said. After a successful spell at Celtic, former Liverpool and Swansea boss Rodgers has burnished his reputation with his impressive work at Leicester. Winning his first major trophy in English football in front of a crowd of 21,000 at Wembley would be another feather in Rodgers’ cap.