Thomas Tuchel’s 1 year anniversary was on Wednesday and as time ticked by, there was many articles released by top Chelsea sources throughout the day, detailing his life in London, expectations from the board, what happened in the meeting after the UCL with owner Roman Abramovich and an insight into the Squad’s feelings towards Thomas Tuchel and I’m here to re cap over all of these reports and detail the best and most juicy bits from the Chelsea Journalists.
Article 1 : Tuchel, an incredible 12 months and the battle to avoid a second year wobble, by Simon Johnson and more from The Athletic.
Quote 1 : “ One source describes the way Tuchel talks to his attackers as “ Brutal “ Chelsea’s attackers are then second guessing themselves and not playing on instinct some Chelsea players have the impression Tuchel picks his team on emotion “ Obviously not a good sign really, you can argue that many of our attackers should just stick it out, none of them have really shown good consistency, and therefore in my opinion Tuchel is right to be frustrated towards them, I believe that if players are really second guessing them selves and afraid to do things on the pitch in fear of the manager then do they have the elite mentality to play for Chelsea anyway?
Quote 2 : “ Abramovich made no demands for this season in the meeting, they discussed a new contract and possible summer signings, funds for a new striker was promised, Erling Haaland was number 1, but the fee was well over £100m and agent fee’s and wages “ a really good sign in my opinion, Roman is known to be ruthless and time will tell wether he is allowing this seasons standards to not be so concrete due to the UCL win, but there is no doubt that Tuchel wanted an elite striker and he got one on paper in the summer in Romelu Lukaku, who has so far not impressed and conducted a Sky Italia Interview detailing how he missed Inter Milan, Tuchel was furious behind the scenes, as many sources have reported, however, that’s behind us now, hopefully.
Quote 3: “ Thomas Tuchel invited the Chelsea squad to a summer barbecue at his new house, a golf day in Surrey, and a couple of very expensive dinners in London, Tuchel communicates well with Marina and Cech and won’t show any frustration over signings in public. “ Again, really good to hear because Squad harmony is a very big thing in Football and especially Chelsea who have had many player power incidents and dressing room fallouts over the years. Tuchel’s current relationship with Cech and Marina will hopefully lead to the club backing Tuchel in the long term should further incidents like Lukaku’s one arise in the future.
The Athletic’s report didn’t always include glowing reports on Tuchel and the squad however, with one source stating that some of the attackers feel that they are being unfairly treated, training well but other players who are out of form picked and then lead to be believed that Tuchel picks his team based on emotion. Personally, I would get rid of anyone in the squad who even thinks of undermining Tuchel and his thought process into his team selections.
Article 2 : How bitter PSG divorce and Abramovich promise helped Tuchel fall in love at Chelsea, by Adam Newson, Football LDN.
Quote 1 : “ One source tells us the story that Tuchel took time out of training to speak to a potential academy signing and told him that even if he wasn’t manager by time he broke into the team, there was no better club to match the player’s ambitions “ What more can you say? This man bleeds Chelsea, he knows that even if he isn’t here, he can help future Chelsea players make up their minds already that this is the best place to be, Tuchel is very honest so I’m sure there isn’t even an element of bias, he’s worked at top clubs yet is out promoting the club and it’s atmosphere to youngsters, this is a fantastic sign and shows how Warm Tuchel’s heart is.
Quote 2 : “ Tuchel has only ever dished it out twice to the players, they were against Spurs ( A ) in the league at HT when it was 0-0, and Watford ( A ) at FT, Chelsea went onto win those games 3-0 and 2-1. “ Interestingly, As a fan I think Tuchel could have picked some different games to go mental at the player’s at, such as the draw vs Brighton, Loss to West Ham or the capitulation late on against Burnley and Everton, which saw us draw and lose valuable points, however this is a good sign, as we saw with Sarri, multiple dressing room dressing downs can lead to angry players, tension and angst amongst everyone, Tuchel wants to build a positive atmosphere and clearly uses tactical ways such as video breakdowns and in house meetings, rather than running into the dressing room and blasting a chorus of angry words at 11 players.
So, this pretty much covers all the articles released on Tuchel’s 1 year anniversary with some interesting insight on multiple areas of his day to day duty, I think all of us Chelsea fans hope Tuchel is the one to lift more silverware and create longevity, Only Jose Mourinho himself has managed to stay more than 2 years as Chelsea Boss, so you can bet that this year in 2022 is a huge one for Tuchel and his Chelsea Future. If the board back him in player issue’s, his transfer targets and he is left alone to work which he reportedly likes to do, then there’s no reason Chelsea cannot win many titles, both domestically and in Europe, because his managerial ability cannot be questioned, it’s just.. Will Tuchel be able to hold off the high expectations, get through bad dips and keep reacting well if lack of business is done like this January, where a LWB still has not been signed despite a long term injury to Ben Chilwell, and with the club failing so far to re call Emerson Palmeiri from Lyon due to a clause in his loan contract.
