Thomas Tuchel gets his message across and Chelsea players must respond | Karen Carney

The manager has told his side to ‘toughen up’ – that advice and more must be taken to arrest their poor start to the season

I was once told by a highly respected head coach that they treat every interview and press conference as if they are speaking directly to the players. That theory, it would seem, is being put into practice by Thomas Tuchel after he told his Chelsea squad to “toughen up” after their latest Premier League loss to Southampton on Tuesday.

It was Chelsea’s second defeat in five games this season and they have conceded eight goals. Tuchel will want them to be more resilient because their flaws have been highlighted. At St Mary’s, the winner came in first-half stoppage time. Spurs snatched a point at Stamford Bridge because Chelsea could not hold out for the final few seconds in that game either.