Thomas Tuchel cites two reasons for Chelsea's loss to Southampton in scathing assessment

Thomas Tuchel has criticized Chelsea's mentality and consistency after his side's 2-1 loss to Southampton. The Blues boss believes his side are simply too easy to beat after conceding two sloppy goals against the south coast side to fall to their second Premier League defeat this season.

Chelsea were poor in the game at St Mary's Stadium and deserved to lose the game against the hosts. They opened the scoring through Raheem Sterling, but were quickly pushed back when Saints midfielder Romeo Lavia struck home. Adam Armstrong won the game for the home side on the stroke of halftime with a powerful strike on the stroke of halftime that deflected Blues centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly.

Speaking to BT Sport after the game, the German lamented his side's mentality once they were pushed back. He said: "Obviously we struggle with our concentration and with consistency in games, it's not enough to play 20 minutes well. We did the same at Leeds.

"One thing is going against us and then we are having a hard time finding answers and going back. Things are not going our way today and we have started to struggle and adapt so that the situation escapes us.

"I think it doesn't take much to beat us. That's what I don't like. We're humble enough to understand that we can lose football games. But we don't like not that and then we try to win every game, but the way we do that changing as fast as we can."

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The German also lamented the club's luck with injuries. Reece James was a notable absentee from the starting line-up after suffering from illness while key player N'Golo Kante is also currently out. Ruben Loftus-Cheek joined the growing injured list after being taken off at half-time with a hamstring injury. Matteo Kovacic was brought in to replace the Englishman at half-time as he had just returned from injury.

"There is no one left in midfield," said the Chelsea manager. "Recommendation for Mateo Kovacic was 20 minutes but he played 45. I also don't understand why we are in this injury situation but it is what it is and we have to find solutions."

The Blues have struggled for form in front of goal, with Sterling the only member of the front three to score this season.

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The former Borussia Dortmund boss lamented the team's struggles in front of goal against Southampton but admitted it was not a new problem.

"It's a reality," the 49-year-old said when asked if he was frustrated that Sterling was the only one to score. "It happened a few times to our attacking players. I think in the first 20 minutes we created chances, half chances, but we struggled to score, which is also nothing new for us. The consequence is that you end up losing the game."

Tuchel's men will have the perfect opportunity to raise the bar when they take on West Ham in a London derby on Saturday. The form of the club will have to recover quickly otherwise it risks losing g...