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How Tuchel transformed Chelsea in just five months

2021/06/07 16:52
E0

When Thomas Tuchel arrived in West London, following club legend Frank Lampard’s dismissal as head coach, there was a huge feeling of negativity surrounding Chelsea.

Many were scrutinising the board, in particular owner Roman Abramovich, for being too ruthless and there was a general consensus that Lampard deserved a little more time at the helm.

In this article, Playmaker’s Nathan John takes a look at the impact of the German manager in his first season with the club and how much of their success has been down to his tactical influence.


Whatever your take on Frank Lampard's sacking, the fact remains that the Blues were sitting in a sorry eighth position after the fan favourite’s last game in charge: a 2-0 defeat at Leicester City in January - a month after they had topped the Premier League.

Whether Abramovich viewed Lampard as tactically lacking, out of his depth in terms of man-management or at fault for transfers such as those of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz not hitting the ground running is still unclear, but the Russian had seen enough to wield the axe. In came, former Dortmund and PSG boss Thomas Tuchel and the turnaround was almost instant.

Up until Lampard's departure, Chelsea had conceded 23 goals in 19 league games and kept only seven clean sheets in the process.

Tuchel’s first game in charge addressed the leaky backline: a 0-0 home draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers followed by three further clean sheets in their next five fixtures in the Premier League.

©Getty /

Against Wolves, Tuchel opted to go with a 3-4-2-1 formation on the night and he didn't alter those tactics for  the remainder of the campaign, Chelsea finding the solidity that had deserted them in the 4-2-3-1 adopted by Lampard throughout the first half of the season.

This change in formation also saw the likes of Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech introduced back into the team, both summer signings having failed to make an impact under Lampard in the early part of the season.

Chelsea would go on to reach an FA Cup final, finish 4th position in the Premier League and, of course, win their second Champions League title in a decade.

This included Tuchel outwitting Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City three times in the space of a month, including in the final of the Champions League and the semi-final of the FA Cup.

Ironically, it was Guardiola who had staged a managerial masterclass against Lampard at Stamford Bridge in January, the eventual league winners cruising to a comfortable 3-1 victory in a game that set the tone for the rest of the Citizens' season.

©Getty / DAVID RAMOS

Defensively, Chelsea never looked back under Tuchel.

The Blues would concede a miserly 13 goals in their remaining 19 league games with goalkeeper Edouard Mendy racking up a further 16 clean sheets in all competitions.

The remaining half of the season under the German included a further 19 wins in all competitions, with Mason Mount and N’golo Kante finding their best form guided by the highly-demanding and tactically astute Tuchel.

The echoes of 2012 were rather deafening: the turnaround under Roberto di Matteo after the underwhelming tenure of Andrés Villas-Boas uncannily similar to Chelsea's renaissance this season under Tuchel. 

The big question for Tuchel now is: how does he improve on what he achieved in a miraculous five months at Stamford Bridge? 

Germany
Thomas Tuchel
NameThomas Tuchel
Born/Age1973-08-29(50 -yrs-old)
Nationality
Germany
Germany
Job RoleManager

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