It was a very bad day at the office for Chelsea on Saturday as they went down 3-2 losers against West Ham, but perhaps more importantly it was a very bad day for goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Let’s first remember just how world class this guy has been since he joined Chelsea, and he has single-handedly won us many points in a Chelsea shirt, mistakes happen even to the best.
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However, it was a string of mistakes that literally gifted West Ham all three points on Saturday, and manager Thomas Tuchel believes his usually very reliable stopper has ‘lost a bit of confidence’.
To be fair to Mendy he received a terrible back pass from Jorginho that saw him then be rash and give away a penalty. But it was the third goal that went in from West Ham that Mendy would be stopping 9.5 times out 10, easily.
Tuchel says if Mendy was on his game, Chelsea would have won 2-1 no question about it, as reported by Football London.
“I don’t know why exactly but he seems to have lost a bit of confidence,” Tuchel said.
“His decision-making was not on the highest level today with the first goal but we also bring him to a really awkward situation [with Jorginho’s back pass]. He could have saved the situation but he did not. We are far, far away from blaming anybody.
“I don’t see at all why we should have major doubts with Edou. Every single career as a goalkeeper out there, there will be tough days and tough moments and they are in the spotlight because you are in an exposed situation and position if you play goalkeeper.
“Every little mistake and every ball loss or every decision-making when you struggle is so obvious. That environment starts pointing fingers, or whatever, this is absolutely normal. We don’t want this to happen because he is crucial for us in our defensive performance.
“Maybe on his very best day today, we could have won the game 2-1. But now it is on us to also be there for him and to go through there with him. We would not do anything else with anybody else and that’s it.”