Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel insists they’re more than a Cup team ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
Tuchel is to lead the Blues into a fifth final in just over a year in charge.
“Are we in the beginning of a process to translate this into a league campaign? Yes, we are but still it’s not like we are underperforming regarding where we came from a year ago,” he claimed.
“We should also allow ourselves to not be too negative about being third place [in the league] at the moment and playing all these different competitions at the same time.
“There are an awful lot of positive things in this development and there are so many good things to build on that we should not turn it around and say “this is just a cup team and not a league team.” This is simply not true and I don’t believe it.
“If people want to look at it like that it’s fair enough. It’s their opinion and I say let everybody have their opinion but we will focus on what we’re doing and that is taking care about the process on a daily basis and going step by step.”
With winners’ medals in the Champions League, Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup already accumulated during his short time in England, Tuchel certainly doesn’t agree that his side’s silverware achievements should be downplayed.
In fact, the 48-year-old prefers to view such talk as a compliment if people label Chelsea cup specialists under his stewardship.
“I like it if we’re seen and regarded like this because in the end it’s appreciation that we are competitive and that we know what it takes to reach finals,” he said.
“That’s always a tough way to go, it’s always necessary to focus step by step, and all this is included if you reach a final, so there’s a lot of appreciation in it.”
