Thomas Tuchel was seething with Chelsea's 4-2 defeat to Arsenal on Wednesday night.In a massive result that propelled Arsenal back into the hunt for Champions League football, Chelsea made life hard for themselves by dropping a series of individual errors at Stamford Bridge.And it all started when Andreas Christensen's lame attempt at a pass during the opening minutes allowed Eddie Nketiah to run through one-on-one against Edouard Mendy and find the back of the net.

Chelsea 2-4 Arsenal

Timo Werner did fire back quickly with an equaliser and Cesar Azpilicueta notched a leveller of his own in response to Emile Smith Rowe's goal, but the visitors eventually took control of the game.

A second goal for Nketiah and a Bukayo Saka penalty saw Arsenal make their London neighbours pay in the second-half, and this time there were no rebuttals from the Blues.

All in all, it made for a disorganised, hectic and anarchic Chelsea performance that left Tuchel so frustrated that you could see how disappointed he was in his team during the post-match interviews.

Tuchel gives tense interview

In a series of tense interviews from the Chelsea boss, Tuchel started by telling Sky Sports: "We scored five goals and lost 4-2. Three own-goals and two regular goals for us.

"I cannot remember any mistakes like these in our favour. We don't get these goals we give them away in consecutive games.

"Second-half was nowhere good enough. Individually, how we conceded the goals it is dramatic mistakes, individual mistakes. We decided to give away a goal for absolute nothing - we did the same against Real Madrid and against Brentford."

Tuchel criticises Chelsea's pitch

However, perhaps the most eye-catching comment of the bunch linked all the way back to Christensen's mistake for the opening goal with Tuchel criticising the Stamford Bridge pitch.

Tuchel explained during his press conference: "To say the pitch is difficult to play here, it maybe sounds like an excuse but it is a very, very difficult pitch that we have here. It’s not in our favour.

"The ball bounces very awkwardly in front of Andreas when he wants to play this ball. But still, we had the same mistake against Real Madrid that cost us the next round of the Champions League and this one cost us the next match."

A legitimate excuse?

Now, of course, it's a point that's no doubt incredibly legitimate and earnest to Tuchel, even if it's inevitably going to take on a meme-like status in the way that Jurgen Klopp's excuses do.

However, that doesn't make it any less eyebrow-raising that the Chelsea manager would criticise the very pitch that his team plays on almost every week.

You've heard about coaches criticising the grass and conditions at other stadiums, but surely some level of action must be taken if the Stamford Bridge turf is causing problems for Chelsea.

Chelsea's Tuchel vs Arsenal
Soccer Football - Premier League - Chelsea v Arsenal - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - April 20, 2022 Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel reacts REUTERS/David Klein EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Chelsea v Arsenal - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - April 20, 2022 Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel reacts REUTERS/David Klein EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

Either way, though, it couldn't have been any clearer that Chelsea's defeat left Tuchel rattled and you can certainly understand why because that wasn't the performance of European champions.

Chelsea 2-4 Arsenal Match Reaction (Football Terrace)