Thomas Tuchel made it clear to his Chelsea team that he was not happy with their first-half performance against Chelsea.
The Blues claimed another win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to move top of the Premier League, winning 3-0.
Thiago Silva scored the opener, and goals from each of N’Golo Kante and Antonio Rudiger completed the rout for Chelsea over their London rivals.
But the second half performance was nothing like the first, which saw Chelsea struggle to create despite defending well.
And it seems that is thanks to a stern word or two from Tuchel, who was furious with what he saw in the first 45 minutes.
#”I was absolutely not happy with the first 45 minutes,” he told Sky Sports. “There were individual performances that were great, like Kepa and Thiago, but in general we lacked energy and we lacked being more relentless in duels and to decide 50/50 balls for us.
“We want to impress by pure skills but games like this in the Premier League, a derby against Tottenham, it’s not just about skilful play, it’s about aggression and performing better as a team.
“We lacked energy and we spoke clearly about it at half time. Second half was a much better half a much better performance. It was a very good reaction and I’m very happy with the second half.”
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Anyone who has watched Tuchel’s teams will know they are so often physical units who play an aggressive and intense style.
And that is the case because he doesn’t accept passive displays from his men.
That was proven again here, and it only further proves why having Tuchel in their corner is such an advantage for Chelsea in the title race, aside from their star-studded squad.