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| Thomas Tuchel, manager of Chelsea looks on during the national anthem during The FA Cup Final match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on May 14, 2022 in London, England. |
Thomas Tuchel has described Manchester City and Liverpool as 'maybe the best teams to ever play' in the Premier League but is pleased with Chelsea's progress this season.
The Blues will likely finish third in the final standings, albeit some way behind the two title challengers, but Tuchel expressed satisfaction given the sanctions imposed on the club as owner Roman Abramovich was ousted.
In addition to qualification for next season's Champions League, Chelsea have reached both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup finals - losing both on penalties to Liverpool - and won the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.
But a cloud of uncertainty continues to hang over Stamford Bridge even if a £4.25billion takeover by American investor Todd Boehly and his consortium is inching closer to completion.
Asked to offer his assessment of Chelsea's season ahead of their final two league fixtures against Leicester City and Watford, Tuchel said: 'Hopefully we manage to come third and there is progression in it.
'We have constantly been in the top three in the toughest league, we now compete with maybe the best teams to ever play in his league [City and Liverpool].
'From there we go, put it into perspective and there is no need to lose sleep after this season but there is a lot of ambition in us that is not satisfied.
'I think it is good to admit it, not to be too worried it that we don't do this
'It is at some level okay, maybe some level very good but there is always room for improvement. We will not relax and give in too early.'
After Tuchel led Chelsea to Champions League glory last season, they were fancied by many to mount a title challenge this time around, especially after the club record £98million signing of striker Romelu Lukaku.
They started very brightly, losing just once in their opening 14 Premier League games to top the standings at the beginning of December.
But as injuries and Covid issues piled up, not to mention Lukaku's unhelpful criticism in a December television interview, Chelsea started to drop too many points and allowed City and Liverpool to pull away.
The Blues were eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage by Real Madrid but only after mounting a stunning second leg fightback.
Looking ahead to next season, Tuchel added: 'I don't know where we are from day one. What I can promise is that I will be here - if I can promise that - and I will be here with full energy and positive energy no matter what.
'We will still work for Chelsea and I refuse to think of negative scenarios. We will be competitive, on which level we will see.
'On how the delay [completing the takeover] and sanctions will affect us, there is a risk.
'It will be very difficult to make up for the disadvantage, given the situation of the other two teams: City and Liverpool, who are already improving their squads and set one benchmark after another in all aspects of the game.'
