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Three lessons learnt as Chelsea beats Newcastle 2-0

By Hridyam Arora

Chelsea's German head coach Thomas Tuchel celebrates at the final whistle during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on February 4, 2021. (Photo by Clive Rose / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by CLIVE ROSE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Chelsea's German head coach Thomas Tuchel celebrates at the final whistle during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on February 4, 2021. (Photo by Clive Rose / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by CLIVE ROSE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 27: Jorginho of Chelsea is challenged by Christian Eriksen of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on February 27, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 27: Jorginho of Chelsea is challenged by Christian Eriksen of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on February 27, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /

Chelsea slid back into the top four of the Premier League table as they comfortably beat Newcastle United 2-0 on Monday night. Following goals from Timo Werner (yes, finally) and Olivier Giroud, Chelsea had no problems dealing with the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin as Thomas Tuchel recorded his fifth win out of six games as Chelsea boss. So, what did we learn from this win that took them above Liverpool in the points table?

1. Best performance so far under Tuchel

Let’s get this out of the way: This performance wasn’t perfect, by any means. But, it was close to it, especially the first half. Perfect or not, it was still the best game under Thomas Tuchel. Almost everything was clicking; the defense looked solid whenever asked to do anything, the wingbacks went up and down all the time, the midfield was class, and the attack was also pretty good. Now, this was not a sensational performance from every single player, but it was the team’s performance as a whole which made it worthwhile. There were some great performances, which we’ll get to, but as for the team in general, this was good. The team is adapting to Tuchel’s system, and they’re showing that by getting results every game.

Every problem that they faced when they went up against Barnsley last week, were actually the strong points of this game. They broke Newcastle’s press time after time. The team was structured really well and they just looked comfortable when they had the ball. It was fun. The players executed an excellent counter-press for when they lost the ball. They had a few amazing sequences that should’ve ended up as goals, but sadly the end product was a little off. Overall, it was just a very good performance. In the second half, Newcastle upped the tempo a little bit so Chelsea had to drop back and defend sometimes, but all in all, it was good. Good signs from the team. They need to keep this up if they want to fight for the top four spots. Form will be crucial when going up against Atletico Madrid as well.

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