Depleted Chelsea leave Thomas Tuchel frustrated in stalemate with Wolves

A glance at the Premier League table will do nothing to improve Thomas Tuchel’s mood. Chelsea had arrived at Molineux full of righteous fury after their request for this game to be postponed was rejected. Although Tuchel’s side did not respond by downing tools on the pitch, it was difficult to find many positives after 90 minutes of toil against Wolves cast further doubt on their ability to keep up with Manchester City and Liverpool.

Ultimately the only bright spot for an irritable Tuchel, who had seven players out with Covid-19, was that Chelsea refused to wilt. Otherwise this was another tale of frustration for the European champions. They never looked likely to prise Wolves apart and after threatening to make it a three-way title race for much of the campaign, Chelsea suddenly find themselves in danger of falling out of contention after winning only three of their past eight games.

Tuchel, who held his head in his heads when a rare opening for N’Golo Kanté went begging, has seen his side pick a bad moment to slow down. Chelsea have fallen six points behind City, a gap that must feel like a chasm given the relentless of Pep Guardiola’s champions, and they are not going to challenge if ruthlessness in attack remains elusive.

Nothing is running their way at the moment. Under pressure after a deflating run, Chelsea began to feel the universe was against them when the league rejected their request for a postponement on Sunday morning. Was it right to play on when six other games were called off over the weekend? Chelsea felt otherwise given they had four outfield players on the bench after Kai Havertz, Jorginho and Ruben Loftus-Cheek became the latest to go into quarantine and the sense of injustice had clearly got to Tuchel, who cut an agitated figure on the touchline from the start, hammering Reece James for giving away possession early on.

Chelsea – with Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Timo Werner having tested positive for Covid-19 before their draw with Everton last Thursday, made an unsurprisingly hesitant start and were fortunate not to be behind after 15 minutes. João Moutinho moved unchallenged through midfield and Tuchel’s reaction was volcanic when Marcal overlapped on the left and zipped a low cross to the far post, where Daniel Podence was waiting to guide the ball home.

Enraged by Chelsea’s defensive shape disappearing so easily, Tuchel hopped up and down before returning to the dugout to rant at his assistants. The German seemed liable to erupt at any moment and even the sight of the linesman’s flag going up for offside against Raúl Jiménez, who had tried to convert Marcal’s centre before it found Podence, did not bring him much cheer.

As half-time approached, Tuchel was sitting glumly on the bench. Wolves were on top, with Leander Dendoncker, Rúben Neves and Moutinho shading the midfield battle, and they could have been ahead. Édouard Mendy denied Jiménez and an unmarked Dendoncker headed straight at Chelsea’s goalkeeper.

If there was an encouraging note for Chelsea, though, it was that they did not give too much away. César Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Antonio Rüdiger offered experienced at the back and Kanté, pressed into action earlier than Tuchel would have liked, occasionally looked dynamic on his first appearance since 23 November. Trevoh Chalobah, meanwhile, was battling hard next to Kante.

Yet this is not the midfield that Tuchel, who was also without the injured Andreas Christensen, would have gone with in normal circumstances. It spoke volumes that he preferred to go with an underpowered Kante and the inexperienced Chalobah instead of Saúl Níguez and Ross Barkley, although it must be pointed out that the latter pair are experienced internationals.

That selection decision had nothing to do with Covid-19; after all nobody forced Chelsea to send Billy Gilmour and Conor Gallagher out on loan before borrowing Saúl from Atlético Madrid for the season.

Chelsea, who also decided not to add any under-23 players to the senior squad here, could not feel sorry for themselves. What they needed was a goal. Saúl came on for Chalobah at half-time and there was more urgency from the visitors after the break.

Yet there was no way through Bruno Lage’s back three, no bite with Lukaku, Havertz, Werner and Hudson-Odoi missing. Christian Pulisic was a lightweight presence through the middle once again, Mason Mount was busy but ineffective and there was little invention from Hakim Ziyech, who was replaced by Mateo Kovacic after picking up a knock in the second half.

The lack of creativity was a weakness again. Pulisic was thwarted by a fine save from José Sá after being played through by Marcos Alonso, Mount saw a shot deflected wide and Kanté miscued at the death, but Chelsea did not create enough. It has become a recurring theme.