Thomas Tuchel Gave Classy Team Talk To Weymouth Players After They Lost 13-0 In A Friendly Against Chelsea

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel expressed his admiration for non-league Weymouth in a classy post-match team talk after his side picked up an emphatic 13-0 win in the behind-closed-doors friendly.

To help improve the fitness of players who did not pick up minutes in their Premier League win against Crystal Palace on Saturday, the club organised a clash against the Vanarama National League side on Sunday afternoon.

And it took just four minutes for the European champions to open the scoring as the likes of Thiago Silva, Callum-Hudson Odoi and Reece James featured at Cobham training ground.

Things quickly escalated and, at the half-time break, Chelsea held a comfortable 8-0 lead against the fifth-tier outfit.

Ben Chilwell, Kurt Zouma, Emerson Palmieri, Michy Batshuayi and Davide Zappacosta managed to record some minutes ahead of their upcoming game against Arsenal, although new signing Romelu Lukaku didn't feature.

It turned out to be a comfortable afternoon for the Blues, who went on to score another five goals in the second half as The Terras struggled to contain a host of experienced internationals.

Ollie Harfield, who plays for Weymouth, says it was a tough afternoon at the office. "I didn't expect them to field such a strong team but it was an eye-opener for sure!" he told SPORTbible.

After the final whistle, Chelsea boss Tuchel walked over to the Weymouth team to give them some words of encouragement.

"He [Tuchel] thanked us for playing," Harfield says. "He said he liked the way we tried to do things and never got onto each other when things weren't going well.⁠

"He also said how it was always going to be this sort of result, playing such a strong team like he did, but appreciated us for being part of it."

Harfield also says the "classy" Tuchel went around and shook everyone's hand, both before and after the game, and wished them luck for the season.

Weymouth manager Brian Stock was also full of praise for the German.

"The scoreline, no one wants to lose 13-0 but when you look at the movement, the power, the pace - you can see the top-level and big gulf," he told The Dorset Echo.

"The lads kept on going right to the end. Thomas Tuchel came over and said some very nice words to us.

"Apart from the scoreline, everything else was positive."

Topics: Chelsea, Football, Thomas Tuchel, Premier League, friendly

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

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