One of Europe\u2019s most celebrated minds arrives at Chelsea. He takes over an underperforming and fractured squad, relying on the tactical expertise that brought him domestic success at one of the continent\u2019s leading clubs, adds yet another trophy to the club\u2019s collection. That individual – a notoriously combustible character – then falls out with decision-makers at Stamford Bridge and so begins a bitter divorce costing Chelsea millions.<\/p>\n
Indeed, that describes Antonio Conte\u2019s time in charge of the West London giants (if you\u2019ll forgive the lack of nuance) but, interestingly, it may be something we look back on as a summation of Thomas Tuchel and his time in charge of Chelsea. With one slight exception of course. Crucially, the shadow of Conte looms over the decision, with Chelsea having been burnt before.<\/p>\n
The German, by all accounts, struggles to manage upwards<\/a> in a way reminiscent of the Italian. Having fallen out with sporting directors at Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain, Thomas Tuchel is walking into a senior management team who even annoyed Frank Lampard<\/a> so much that he was reportedly<\/a> only staying at the club due to his obvious emotional connection. So, whatever happens, it\u2019s likely to be as chaotic as ever in SW6 with Tuchel in charge.<\/p>\n A product of the prominent German school of pressing<\/a> of which Ralf Rangnick is heralded as the key instigator, perhaps this appointment is also Chelsea merely jumping on the latest trend.<\/p>\n Jurgen Klopp\u2019s Liverpool and Hansi Flick\u2019s Bayern Munich are the last two Champions League winners and Roman Abramovich\u2019s desire to see the club he\u2019s pumped billions into over a two-decade period has been well-documented.<\/p>\n While Thomas Tuchel hasn\u2019t enjoyed as much success as his aforementioned trophy-laden compatriots, he did manage to take PSG to their first-ever Champions League final while winning a domestic treble.<\/p>\n Last season, his side were Ligue 1\u2019s best pressing team, with FBRef<\/a> noting 30.9% of their actions were successful. Granted, you\u2019d expect the Parisians to top most metrics given their financial dominance but, prior to his arrival in 2018, their superstar squad trailed bitter rivals Marseille on that front.<\/p>\n Getting a team containing the famed egos of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe to press successfully at domestic level, where you\u2019d largely expect PSG to win most games by virtue of the fact they have better players, is certainly no mean feat.<\/p>\n To balance that with winning every domestic trophy bar one available to him speaks of a man capable of transforming a team, turning them into a relentless pressing machine.<\/p>\n Given Chelsea have (at the time of writing) been the Premier League\u2019s sixth-best<\/a> pressers, we can reasonably expect a significant improvement if nothing else during his initial few months in charge.<\/p>\n Considering the level of attacking talent on their books, it does make for an exciting match, bringing yet another elite level manager to England to compete with Klopp, Pep Guardiola and even the arguably somewhat past it Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thomas Tuchel gets forwards firing \ud83d\udd25 pic.twitter.com\/smlVgkrVnT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 B\/R Football (@brfootball) January 26, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n