- Cole feels this was the first time Chelsea allowed so much space in midfield under Tuchel.
- The former Blue says several players including Kovacic and Zouma made small errors.
- Minamino recognized space around him and Southampton were able to find his run easily, Cole points out.
“It’s the first time under Tuchel that this space in the midfield was Southampton-dominant, Chelsea weren’t on it,” Joe Cole said on BT Sport.
“And the reason for that is a lot of half mistakes here. Alonso does well, he gets on Redmond and he keeps on going backward.
“Kovacic, defensive instincts, should have got back in next to N’Golo Kante but he doesn’t do that for whatever reason. It’s the first time he didn’t all game, to be fair.
“It was a lovely one-two from Redmond and as the ball gets played in, now you’re talking about margins in football. Azpilicueta has a look to see where Danny Ings is so it’s good play. He’s trying to switch on, he’s trying to marshal his defence.
“I feel for Kurt, when you’re in the middle of a back-three you can sometimes switch off because there’s nobody to mark but switches off is exactly what he does.
“Minamino recognizes there’s just an inch of space and he runs into it and then it’s all about the quality of pass.”
Here is how Southampton’s opener was scored during the 1-1 draw:
One tough moment does not make a defender bad – Zouma has been great this season and should come back to his best very soon;
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