Tuchel says his men were not up for it in the first half and were forcing to impress with ‘skills’ against Spurs.
The Blues improved in the second half to beat their London rivals thanks to goals from Thiago Silva, N’golo Kante and Antonio Rudiger.
In an interview with the media after the game, Tuchel said Chelsea lacked the energy in the opening stages of the game but acknowledged the fact that things changed after the interval.
"We were too sloppy, we were not sharp enough in the first 45 minutes. We were not really bad, but not on the level that you need to have when you face a strong Tottenham side in their stadium,” the former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain manager told Sky Sports.
"They approached the derby with a lot of energy and we lacked a little bit. Individually there were good performances, like from Thiago and Kepa in the first half. But as a team we lacked energy.
"We relied too much on skills, but it’s not just about skillful play - we also have to impress with work rate and intensity and we had to step up to earn a better result. And that is what we did, we played a better second half."
