Chelsea missed out on winning their first piece of silverware under head coach Thomas Tuchel yesterday evening after being beaten 1-0 by Leicester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
A second half thunderbolt from midfield ace Youri Tielemans got the job done for the Foxes, ensuring they won the trophy for the first time in their rich and colourful history.
In truth, it was a close contest which could have gone either way, with neither side's attack at their sharpest.
Chelsea, apart from the goal they did score through Ben Chilwell that was eventually ruled out by VAR for offside, did have chances to put the ball in the but found an inspired Kasper Schmeichel between the sticks.
Whilst the result was, of course, disappointing, Tuchel refused to be too critical of his players.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, the German said: "Of course, we are disappointed but we are not angry, it's not on our boys. Today we are simply unlucky.
"We have never hidden the fact that you need luck in this game to be able to win on this level. All the time you need momentum, little details and decision making, referee and sometimes with a shot like today.
"We defended very, very well, were aggressive in counter-pressing, we didn't allow any counter-attack chances, no half-chances, and I was absolutely happy with the work-rate intensity.
"But our decision-making was a bit too hectic, [we played] a bit too straight upfront., We wanted to force the solution too far, we had unnecessary ball losses and imprecise decision making. We created some two-against-two and two-against-three situations, that we couldn't do as well as we should have."
Although Chelsea did little wrong, they lacked that required zest and prowess in the final third to make their mark on the game.
However, there was one major positive for Tuchel that emerged from the contest and that was the performance of Reece James.
Unsurprisingly named in the starting line-up, there was, however, an element of surprise to where James was playing, as he moved across from right wing-back and into an unfamiliar centre-back role, as Tuchel looked to use the former Wigan Athletic loanee's pace to try and make life difficult for Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, who is renowned for running in behind defences with his speed and athleticism.
Although James was partially to blame for gifting the ball away in the build up to Tielemans' winner, the England international's performance could not be criticised too heavily, especially when he was asked to step into unknown territory in a game of such magnitude.
Assessing his performance, Tuchel said: "Reecey played in the back three and we put Azpi [Cesar Azpilicueta] up higher. They changed the position because we know about the favourite position of Jamie Vardy in transition and we wanted to have Reecey’s power, Reecey’s acceleration, and top speed against him to eliminate this threat.
"He did fantastic today. Very very happy.
"On the same side, we wanted to have Azpi a bit higher because with his experience and his character he takes a bit more risk than Reecey in the last line. If Azpi could have scored the first goal and it was not deflected before him, it would have been a great decision.
"Now it is a normal decision, but it is a decision for tactical reasons and for Reecey’s top speed and I’m very happy how we defended in general today."
Tuchel was not the only man who thought James adapted well in his new position, with Arsenal legend Ian Wright insisting James contained Vardy well.
In a short summary, Wright told BBC Sport: "You have to say Reece James did a good job on him."
But whilst Wright was impressed with how James made a good fist of trying to stop Vardy, he did believe that the decision to move him across to centre-back from wing-back was a mistake.
"For me it was a bit of a mistake from Tuchel, I would have played James on the right [wing-back] because I think they lost that thrust," Wright added.
