Stamford Bridge chief Thomas Tuchel believes Premier League and Champions League games are coming too fast and too fast for his players to enjoy a festive drink

Thomas Tuchel believes that the busy schedule for December will not give his players time to toast their impressive first half of the season with a Christmas drink.

And the Chelsea boss is hoping that when they finally have some free time his top-flight stars spend it on their sofas rather than at a posh London club.

Tuchel said: “Have you looked at our schedule? There is no way. I know they won’t come out when we have games every three days, it’s impossible.

“We’ll look at the schedule and try to give them days off as often as possible because it’s so rare.

“We just checked the whole schedule in December and finalized it on Friday – we’ll practice on the 24th, the 25th, that’s the way it is because we have an away game on the 26th.

“On January 2nd we’re playing Liverpool so I know for sure no one is going to party.

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“We have a game against Leeds on December 11 and the Everton game on the following Thursday, so if we have the option to give a day or two off after the Leeds game, we will because it is important that we reposions and very important to disconnect and recharge the batteries.

“But I’d rather they stayed on the couch and didn’t go out.”

Chelsea haven’t been beaten since losing two straight games to Manchester City and Juventus at the end of September – a race that has propelled them to the top of the Premier League and their Champions League group.

Tuchel acknowledged a team reunion after Juve’s game played its part in their run, but insists there were several factors for it.

He added: “We had a very short meeting right after the game in the locker room and then it was the Southampton game and we changed the approach to the team a bit, a little bit training, a bit in our style of play.

“It’s not about being very angry or blaming someone, but it was time to turn every stone and that’s what we did over the next few days in the coaching office.

“To find the mix between being honest, being critical but also being united and showing a way out of what we believe in and which suits us.

“And that, obviously with the help of the team, with the openness of the team and the mentality, we did it.

“That’s also what defeats are for. We hate to lose but sometimes it happens and we were clearly not at our best.

“We lacked a certain sharpness, we didn’t look very confident that day against Juventus, and we weren’t happy with the performance and the result.

“It was kind of a moment to shake things up but not in a crazy way, in an honest way… and the players did really well.”