Cesar Azpilicueta is already looking ahead to the visit of Southampton as a chance to right some of Tuesday night’s wrongs.
The Spaniard, who has started our last four games at left-back, admitted he was at a loss to explain why we struggled so badly against Basel, particularly in the wake of such an impressive performance at West Ham on Saturday. Following the defeat, Jose Mourinho said that fatigue had played a key role in the performance, but Azpilicueta, who was one of the few not to go away for internationals, does not consider that to have been a factor for him personally.
‘One day you play really well and three days after you play bad, or the other way round. I want to know why, but in football it happens,’ Azpilicueta mused.
‘We don’t want to have this kind of moment in our performance, we want to keep a balance. Sometimes you cannot play very well but we know we can play better. We didn’t create a lot of chances and Basel played really well.
‘We tried to do our best for the fans, they came from London and other countries but we didn’t have our best game; at our next game we will try to do better for them and score goals.
‘I felt okay. I finished the game without any problems. It’s normal when you play every three days that the players feel a little bit tired, but the most important thing is the mental approach – you must forget the tiredness of the body.;
With the games coming thick and fast Azpilicueta, enjoying his unfamiliar position, knows the team must endeavour to find the right balance soon.
‘We have nine games in December. It’s a lot. We will need the whole squad. To win trophies you need everyone,’ he said.
‘The manager decides who plays, sometimes he makes changes. I always want to play, so left-back is no problem. The manager has asked me to play there so I try to do my best and be helpful for the team.
‘We need to win the three points at home against Southampton. We will try to do better and score some goals.’