Tuchel backs Mendy to regain form after Real Madrid blunder
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has backed goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to bounce back from the blunder he made against Real Madrid in Wednesday’s Uefa Champions League game.
Mendy made a mistake while trying to pass just outside the penalty area to give Karim Benzema a hat-trick as the Spanish giants cruised to a 3-1 away win at Stamford Bridge.
Wednesday’s defeat means the Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper for 2021 has now conceded seven goals in his last two matches for the Blues, including the 4-1 league loss to Brentford.
Chelsea face Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday and Tuchel hopes the Senegal international will rediscover his confidence between the sticks.
“Yeah. He needs to. Life as a goalkeeper on a high level. The goalkeeper is a very special position in football in general,” he said in a press conference on Friday.
“Once you play on this high level you are in the spotlight. When you are so successful like Edou[Mendy] in the last couple of months, win so many trophies and have so many successful games like he as you are more in the spotlight.
“He was never fully free of mistakes, also not last season. We helped him better. Maybe sometimes we were more lucky. Of course he can solve this situation much, much better (against Real Madrid) and he knows it.
“In any match, it is bad timing to do a mistake like this but in a quarter-final, an occasion like this against Real Madrid is one of the worst moments you can do it. It is so obvious. I hope it does not affect his self-confidence too much.
“This is what goalkeeping is also about, to accept mistakes and live with his mistakes and go back and help your team with performance, focus, re-focus, stay calm, stay confident. This is normally what goalkeepers, what Edou[Mendy] is made of. Now he can prove he is a true champion.”
Mendy has made 25 Premier League appearances for the Blues who sit third in the league table.
