Tremendous Tommy Tuchel: Oh, What A Terrific Time

Time In Germany

So, before I start let me just say, this year’s champions league final will be the first competition, and only one so far in which Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea will not be in a cup final, since he’s joined. Listen I’ve fallen in love with this man and everything about this man and he deserves all the accolades. I’ll be honest I knew little of Tuchel from his days at Dortmund. A team with Mkhitaryan, Ousmane Dembele , Christian Pulisic and Aubameyang in their attack. Despite being one of Europe’s most exciting teams I never paid attention.

Tuchel went on to win the German cup which I’d assume is the most you’d get in Germany with the presence of Bayern Munich. It was also his second consecutive final in the competition losing 4-3 on penalties the previous season. This stint was enough to land him the job at PSG where the main aim every year is to win the champions league or it’s a failure. 

Tuchel after his German Cup triumph with BVB

 

From Paris to London

Now at PSG he won 2 league titles, a domestic treble and was runner-up in the 2020 champions league final during the pandemic in the bubble, this is the closest PSG have gotten to the illustrious competition. For some reason he was sacked the season after as he had fallen out with the board. Enough of this background stuff let get to it.

During the 2020/21 season Frank Lampard was manager at Chelsea football club, I REAALLLY wanted this to be a success, but come December 2020 Chelsea had been beaten 3-1 at arsenal and for me this was the last straw and Frank Lampard had to go. It was clear to me that he wasn’t at the level required to compete with Liverpool or City, especially with the spending and backing of the previous summer signing Chilwell, Werner, havertz, Thiago silva and Ziyech. In regards to Frank I always say fans can be emotional but the board have to be ruthless and professional. Letting go of Frank was ultimately the right choice to make. 

Tuchel after PSG lost the champions league final in 2020 vs Bayern Munich

On January 25th we appointed Tommy Tuchel, again I didn’t know much about him, but this was met with laughter and resistance, fans laughed and said it’d end in tears pretty quick, he’s a tinker man and would change formations 4 times a game and pundits said he wasn’t good enough to win the big trophies based on his stint at PSG. I can’t lie I was concerned but I accepted he was the best available option.

What followed over the next year and a half I can confidently say there’s 2 teams in Europe that  are above us but both teams have had 5 years with their coaches. On any given day Tommy Tuchel can set us up and prepare to go toe to toe with anyone. I can honestly say when it comes to COACHING Thomas Tuchel is the best Chelsea have had in my time watching. Jose and Carlo were probably better managers, in terms of managing a team, big names and egos, but when it comes to coaching a team and implanting ideas, a style of play and a game plan? There’s no doubt Thomas Tuchel is the best Chelsea have had in my time.

Tuchel’s first training session at Chelsea

Mentality Monster

3-4 months after his employment Chelsea were in the champions league final beating Atleti, Real Madrid and Man City on the way. Chelsea also took part in the FA cup final unfortunately losing to Leicester and were able to secure a top 4 finish in the league despite being 9th when he took over in January. What a turn around. As if this wasn’t enough to make me fall in love with this man, then Russia invaded Ukraine so Roman Abramovich was sanctioned so therefore Chelsea as business had assets frozen and couldn’t operate as normal as possible.

How this man handled this situation was so good, he even offered to drive us to the champions league final as to be in that position it was a privilege as compared to when he was coaching at youth level. During this period of turmoil Chelsea were able to win 8 consecutive games, had 1 defeat to Liverpool on penalties in a game they should’ve won. In a time of turmoil my guy was a leader, never made excuses, never wavered, kept it professional and kept winning. In the midst of all this he’s going through a divorce from his wife of 13 years. This man is a mentality monster. 

Tuchel celebrates his first Champions league win.

Coaching

I know I’ve written an article before about managerial stability being overrated but, in this era, I think it’s more important than ever. Chelsea in the past had players of high calibre like Drogba, Terry, Ashley Cole, Lampard, Ivanovic so the dressing room were mature enough to self-regulate and self-motivate. Football is very systematic now; players are spoon fed tactics and where to be and how to score therefore elite coaching is now the most important aspect on the pitch in my opinion. I would much rather sell ANYONE in the Chelsea squad before giving up Thomas Tuchel. I think he is the difference maker for us now.

Thomas Tuchel is 10-0 in semi-finals; he’s made every final but 1 since he’s joined Chelsea. He’s won the champions league, club World Cup, super league, made 3 domestic cup finals in 18 months, he’s handled the Lukaku situation swiftly and early in recognising it’s not going to work as part of his system then moving on. 18 months under Tuchel have been great, we are a step off city and Liverpool but I firmly believe we can get there with him. Without the injuries and covid I’m sure we’d be closer this season. 10 games in 30 days in December with injuries and covid isn’t an excuse because we still had enough to win some games but it was very disruptive to the flow of the team.

There’s a lot of changes about to happen at Chelsea I hope Thomas Tuchel isn’t one of them. Greatest coach Chelsea have had in my eyes. If you made it to the end of this article you’ve been blessed with the highest level of analysis. Thank you for reading.

Stay tuned for more articles to come from Agenda FC as the season comes to a close!