Gary Cahill unfazed by Chelsea's pre-season defeat to Bayern Munich
Chelsea’s captain Gary Cahill believes there is nothing to worry about despite the 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the International Champions Cup on Tuesday (25 July) at the Singapore National Stadium.
The Premier League champions were outplayed in the entire first half and conceded three goals inside the opening 26 minutes.
They were unable to deal with Bayern forwards Franck Ribery and Thomas Muller, who had two assists and two goals in the match respectively.
Chelsea managed to pull a goal back before half-time through left wing-back Marcus Alonso, before Michy Batshuayi tapped in from close range in the 85th minute to give them a glimpse of hope.
The equaliser proved to be elusive, however.
Cahill said that their much-improved showing in the second half was a better reflection of the team.
“It was a difficult pitch with difficult conditions out there. We were not used to the heat, but aside from that, we take away positives from the second half,” the 31-year-old defender said after the game.
“The second half, we showed character to get back into the game… we know in the first half, we can play a lot better than what we did.”
The England international, who took over the captaincy armband following John Terry’s departure to Aston Villa, also said that results shouldn’t matter, as fitness is the key focus at this stage of the pre-season.
“It was tough out there, but it’s going to be good in the long run,” Cahill said.
“Now, we’re working very hard in training. Usually coming to games, you’re fresh and you are rested. Now, we are coming into games working very hard in the week. It’s all good for pre-season, and it’s all good for our fitness.”
Another cause for optimism for Chelsea is the fact that there were a couple of players missing out through injury in this game, while their new signings, German defender Anthony Rudiger and Spanish striker Alvaro Morata are still adjusting to life with the Blues.
Cahill called Rudiger, who sat out the game against Bayern, a “great addition” to the club and a “top quality player”, before hinting that there may be more transfers to come at the club.
“At Chelsea, you want to fight on all fronts, and to do that, you need to have a big squad,” he said.
“You need to have some people who can come into the team in the thick of the season where there’s a lot of fixtures. I’m sure the manager needs those options.
“We had a couple of signings. Maybe there’s a few more to come.”
RELATED
Highlights: Bayern Munich down Chelsea 3-2 in International Champions Cup thriller
