Thomas Tuchel admitted that he had some concerns after Chelsea’s rough patch of form continued in a frustrating draw against Everton on Thursday night.
The Blues dominated the game at Stamford Bridge, but could not take their chances in a 1-1 draw.
Jordan Pickford made a handful of impressive saves to deny Chelsea the lead in the first half before Mason Mount found the back of the net from Reece James’ pass.
Jarrad Branthwaite equalised by touching in a deep free-kick at the back post and Pickford pushed away Thiago Silva’s late header to earn Everton a point.
Tuchel was forced to rotate his side following a succession of positive Covid-19 cases in the Chelsea camp left him without Mateo Kovacic, Ben Chilwell, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Romelu Lukaku and Kai Havertz.
While he was still able to field a strong side more than capable of beating a depleted and youthful Everton team, with Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech supporting Mount in attack, the difficulties caused by coronavirus are a growing problem.
"I am concerned we have too many players out, today six or seven players,” Tuchel said in his post-match press conference when asked about Chelsea slipping four points behind Manchester City in the Premier League title race.
“I think this, in the moment, is the problem, one of the key problems. In central midfield, for eight weeks.
“For today we had our strikers out and that was the case for four weeks with Timo and Romelu out.
"We were strong enough today and I'm not sure right now why we get punished. We see teams concede more chances than we do but we only have a draw.
"We need to find the balance, be honest, critical with each other, but accept sometimes we get punished for not a lot.”
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Whether he is worried or not, Chelsea’s recent form has undeniably taken a dip, with just one win coming from their last four Premier League matches.
There have been three 1-1 draws from their last four home league matches, too, with the Blues’ previously solid defence creaking.
Chelsea have now gone six games without a clean sheet, conceding 11 times over that period.
“I would be more concerned if we were totally out of form, concede the first goal and then struggle to come back. I would be easier to analyse. I don't think it's too easy to analyse our situation,” Tuchel added.
“We could've been in the lead at half time. Easy. We were not and we have to be careful now - and myself - that we point the finger and say it happens again.
“We have a huge chance to talk about a 3-0 and talk about how well we did without many players.
“If we look back, it seems to have [happened] too often. We need to consider that sometimes when looking back we do mistakes and analysing patterns [which] are maybe not there.
“We will not look away. The dressing room is very disappointed and I'm very disappointed.”
