Mail on Sunday
"Walloped at home, conceding five against a West Bromwich Albion team with a goal allergy and seemingly doomed to the drop even before they rolled into Stamford Bridge, a ground where they had not won a league game since 1978," writes Matt Barlow for the Mail on Sunday.
"Tuchel had negotiated his first 14 games without defeat. Not only that, he had seen his side concede only twice in that time, and one of those two was an own goal.
"And there seemed little cause for alarm when Christian Pulisic tucked away the rebound from a Marcos Alonso free-kick to open the scoring.
"Things began to unravel, however, once Thiago Silva was sent off and once the unravelling began it did so in rather spectacular style.
"Chelsea collapsed into a nervous wreckage as West Brom were transformed into cool and clinical counter-attacking killers, seemingly capable of scoring at will."
Telegraph
"Manager of the Month for March and on the back of a 14-game unbeaten run, Thomas Tuchel must have been thinking that being head coach of Chelsea was a piece of cake," writes Matt Law for the Telegraph.
"But in terms of reality checks, this was as big as they come and Tuchel paid the price for his chopping and changing as Chelsea’s Champions League qualification hopes suffered a shock blow.
"Chelsea and Tuchel were in many ways architects of their own downfall, as Thiago Silva was sent-off on his return to the team and Antonio Rudiger, who has been excellent in recent weeks, was badly missed at the back.
"Mason Mount and Kai Havertz both had to be called from the substitutes’ bench, but top scorer Tammy Abraham was again not in Tuchel’s squad and his other striker, Olivier Giroud, did not make it on to the pitch.
"Tuchel’s rotation policy has worked wonders since his arrival as Frank Lampard’s successor, but leaving out Rudiger, Andreas Christensen - who replaced Silva - Mount, Ben Chilwell and Havertz ahead of Wednesday night’s first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Porto backfired spectacularly."
The Guardian
"Perhaps it was inevitable that Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten start would end at the hands of Sam Allardyce," writes Jacob Steinberg for the Guardian.
"After introducing order during his first months at Chelsea, Tuchel watched everything come crashing down against a manager who loves nothing more than proving his tactical worth against foreign coaches with lofty reputations.
"This was the Premier League at its unruly, barmy, utterly illogical best.
"Consider the bare facts. Chelsea came into this game protecting a 14-game unbeaten run and expected to take another step towards qualifying for the Champions League. West Brom, who had won two of Allardyce’s first 16 games in charge, had already been written off as relegation certainties.
"Everything changed in the space of 90 minutes. Chelsea could have no complaints after being outmaneuvered by Allardyce, the Premier League’s greatest survival expert, and will slide out of the top four if Tottenham win at Newcastle on Sunday or West Ham win at Wolves on Monday.
"They were a shambles in every department and West Brom punished their flaws, responding to Christian Pulisic’s undeserved opener and rising seven points behind 17th-placed Newcastle thanks to an inspired performance from Matheus Pereira."
Mirror
"This was not what Thomas Tuchel signed up for," writes Darren Wells for the Mirror. "All that pre-international break progress had put Chelsea in good stead to achieve a top four finish this season.
"One defeat against West Brom won't change that, but it will certainly raise a few alarm bells with Chelsea's manager.
"They may have taken the lead but Chelsea were abject from the first whistle and struggled to penetrate West Brom until their goal against the run of play.
"The game did hinge on Silva's red, but too many players were going through the motions, and even those that weren't - i.e Reece James - then made simple errors which proved costly.
"And once they were behind West Brom carved Chelsea open so easily.
"Tuchel's men have as good a chance as anyone for a place in the Champions League next season, but not playing like this."
