Thomas Tuchel demands Chelsea 'consistency' after FA Cup final defeat to Liverpool

Thomas Tuchel has called on Chelsea to be more consistent, both on and off the pitch, after witnessing his side fall to a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to Liverpool in Saturday's FA Cup final.

The London club have been in a state of turmoil in recent months after Russian owner Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the British government then imposed strict controls on the club.

Tuchel said Liverpool and Premier League leaders Manchester City were winning matches week after week, showing the rewards of their long-term planning.

"They are very, very, very consistent and we are in the opposite situation at the moment, given the sanctions. Players are leaving," the German said.

Antonio Rudiger, a lynchpin of Chelsea's defence, will depart the club at the end of this season and fellow defender Andreas Christensen is also expected to leave.

Tuchel turned around Chelsea's fortunes dramatically when he replaced Frank Lampard as manager in January 2021 and he led the Blues to a Champions League triumph just four months later.

Chelsea made it to the FA Cup final in 2021, when they were beaten by Leicester City, as well as the League Cup final in February this year when they also lost to Liverpool on penalties.

But they have struggled to find their rhythm in the Premier League and they sit in third place, 19 points behind leaders Manchester City and 16 behind Liverpool. However, Chelsea have collected some silverware this season, winning the European Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup.

FA Cup final player ratings

"We can produce peak performances and we have the mentality in the club to shape the mentality of the players to have these peak performances," he said.

"But over the last years Man City and Liverpool proved that you have to obviously deliver that on a level of consistency that we don't have and we struggled with it."

Tuchel said his side struggled in the first 15 minutes of Saturday's encounter with Liverpool when the Reds missed a string of chances before they clawed their way back into the match which turned into an end-to-end contest.

He praised his players for stopping "maybe the most dangerous attacking team in the world" from scoring in two finals that both went to extra time in the space of three months.

Thomas Tuchel receives his runner-up medal from Prince William. EPA

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War 2

Director: Ayan Mukerji

Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana

Rating: 2/5

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem

Rating: 4/5

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”