Thomas Tuchel explains Chelsea DNA after 4-1 win at Palace

Crystal Palace 1-4 Chelsea: Thomas Tuchel became only the second Chelsea manager or head coach to avoid defeat in his first six PL away matches, after Luiz Felipe Scolari. (Photo credit: premierleague.com)

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said the DNA of his Chelsea team is to be focused and have a high work rate and intensity.

In arguably one of their best performances under Tuchel, the blues were absolutely brilliant in their 4-1 away win at Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Chelsea dominated from the start of the match, putting constant pressure on the home side as they took an early lead with Havertz scoring before Pulisic scored a second and Zouma heads in a third before half time.

Palace pulled one back but were well beaten already as they could not cope with Chelsea's work rate and intensity.

Pulisic scored the fourth to put the game to bed as he was on hand to tap in at the far post from a Reece James low cross.

Thomas Tuchel on what he wants in his Chelsea DNA

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said: ‘I am very happy with all the energy levels. Now is the moment to fight for your place. If you have a place in the squad, fight to be on the pitch. If you have a place on the pitch, fight to stay on the pitch.

‘This is not the moment for big changes or to try things. There were not a lot of changes today, we are in the race for the top four and we don’t judge games as more important than any other.

‘We go step by step which is easier to say than do, but today we were absolutely focused and this is what I demanded.

‘I absolutely want that in our DNA we have a high work-rate and high intensity and we are tired after matches. This is how it should be when you play for Chelsea.’

‘It was clearly the performance where we created the most chances, the most touches in the opposition box, and scored the most, but you cannot compare it to Champions League matches or a game at Liverpool. But I’m happy with what we played today.

'I feel it is very difficult to score in the Premier League in any match. We did a great job offensively as a team. But it is a complex game, you cannot divide matches into offense and defence.

'While we were attacking we were closing the spaces. We did not allow Crystal Palace to escape the pressure, we had high ball recoveries, we were very brave in pushing up the pitch while we were attacking.

‘The message we give is clear. We defend together and attack together. Nothing changes in that message. We are very happy we could create a lot but against Porto we start from scratch.’

On Kai Havertz's performance after scoring one and assisting one

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said: ‘He has quality. He needs to show his quality, it’s as easy as that. Kai will never be our emotional leader and we don’t expect that from him. We expect him to show his quality.

‘He needs to be in high positions, either half positions or the number nine position. This is not a big difference for me.

‘Honestly he needed to show he could do better, that was a personal challenge for him. He got a second chance to show up after Porto and he did that. There is still room to improve in finishing, he can be more ruthless, he should have scored more, but it was a good step and a good performance.’