Former West Ham United player Joe Cole gave a damning verdict of Chelsea duo Kalidou Koulibaly and Hakim Ziyech following their disastrous displays against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on September 7.
The Blues fell to a shock 1-0 defeat against the Croatian champions when the highly-rated Mislav Orsic finished off a superb counter-attack in the 13th minute.
Koulibaly was caught horribly out of position for the goal and the summer signing looked completely off the pace throughout the clash.
Former Chelsea winger Cole was also critical of Ziyech, as the former Ajax winger contributed very little after being brought on as a substitute. Speaking to BT Sport, Cole stated (as per Metro):
“Where do you start? The guys at the back have got to pull it together as soon as possible. People will look at the goal but we could have pulled out countless examples where Koulibaly was the wrong side of his man. For a 31-year-old defender, he needs to get up to speed quickly.
“At the other end of the pitch, is there a lack of confidence? The only positive for Thomas Tuchel is there were a lot of players knocking on his door before this asking why they’re not playing and saying they want a chance.”
He continued:
“Those players have come in tonight and haven’t taken their chance so at least he can tell them now that’s why they’re not playing. Ziyech, he’s got a lot of talent but for one reason or another it’s not clicking for him at Chelsea.
“He wasn’t at his best and he hasn’t been at his best. He’s trying hard and trying to make things happen but it’s not happening for him. It’s a bad night for the club. It’s a massive shock.”
Dinamo secured a win over the Blues despite having won only five Champions League encounters in their history.
Thomas Tuchel claims ‘everything is missing’ at Chelsea
The Blues continued their difficult start to the season with their third away defeat of the campaign. In the Premier League, Chelsea are currently sixth in the table with only three wins from six games, accumulating 10 points.
Following the game, Tuchel was clearly furious about his team’s lackluster display, as he told BT Sport (as per BBC Sport):
“We are clearly not there, where we need to be and where we can be. So it’s on me, it’s on us, we need to find solutions. At the moment, everything is missing, [there is] too much to analyse. I’m a part of it.
“I am angry at myself, I am angry at our performance. I didn’t see it coming. We need to be much better. We are not finished, we are not happy but I thought we were on a good way. I am surprised by this performance.”