The Tuchel Thread

[OneMoSalah 8,883]

2 hours ago, killer1257 said:

The problem with Mount dropping deep is that he lacks the creativity to play those through balls. He played maybe 2 through balls in his whole career at Chelsea. So Mount will not solve our issues. That formation would rely on Ziyech overall because he is our only creative player. 

Look at the level of Man City. They have Gündo, KDB, Silva and Mahrez in their squad that able to play creative passes. Rodri is also pretty solid technically and is much better than Kante when it comes to forward passing. We just have Ziyech and he does not even play 😂

 

Realistically though we have got Havertz, Ziyech, Kovacic who are all capable of being creative and passing forward. Mount also is in this just needs to iron out inconsistencies in his end product. Gilmour also is more than capable and Jorginho go longer and in behind teams at times although not a lot.

Not expecting them to all pump out 10 chances per game but the notion we aren’t capable of being creative baffles me. We’ve seen now under Tuchel we can get into these positions in the final third but we just need to take a bit more care with the final pass, once that clicks, I think we will be much better in terms of goals.

Lets not forget Tuchel has only been here for 7 games and we have went from a team who were struggling to keep clean sheets and had no ideal style, to a team who are more organised and haven’t conceded many shots against us per game whilst also showing a clear identity. I think getting this quality at first is better than creating 10 chances a game. The creativity will come and I think TT knows this is still an issue, you can see his frustration on the sideline when the final ball is poor because he expects better.

The whole Cesc thing, it is true but there aren’t as many players like this in world football now. Because everyones too safe as they don’t want to lose it as football has become so heavily fixed on keeping possession. Verratti maybe is close and perhaps a handful of others but its a slim list.

[milka 3,390]

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[ZaynChelsea 423]

10 hours ago, milka said:

No summer preparation makes it even more impressive

[Jase 43,479]

‘He’s brought belief and togetherness back’: Tuchel’s first month at Chelsea

https://theathletic.com/2410946/2021/02/26/hes-brought-belief-and-togetherness-back-tuchels-first-month-at-Chelsea/

It’s half-time and the Chelsea players can’t believe what they’re hearing.

They are leading Newcastle 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, but their dominance isn’t really reflected in the scoreline. New coach Thomas Tuchel is discussing what they have to do in the second half when he suggests something completely out of the blue.

An insider tells The Athletic: “He was giving the team talk and then suddenly said, ‘If you win this game, I will give you two days off’. Everyone looked at each other thinking, ‘What the…?!’ This was the first they’d heard of it. They’d never had something like this before. It was his way of motivating them.”

As with many things Tuchel has tried since replacing Frank Lampard in the dugout, it worked. Chelsea went on to cruise to victory and as promised, the squad got their break.

The mood at the Bridge is certainly a lot more positive compared to a month ago. Tuchel’s record reads: Played eight, won six, drawn two, lost none. Of the two goals they’ve conceded, only one has been scored by an opposing player (Southampton’s Takumi Minamino) with the other coming when Antonio Rudiger diverted the ball into his own net at Sheffield United.

Chelsea have moved from ninth to fifth in the Premier League, are into a home FA Cup quarter-final against bottom club Sheffield United and have a great chance of advancing to the same stage in the Champions League following a 1-0 victory over La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid in the first ‘away’ leg of their last-16 tie this week.

To put that into perspective, the record in Lampard’s last eight fixtures was: Won four, drawn one, lost three. Two of those victories came against EFL opposition in home FA Cup ties against third tier Morecambe and Luton Town of the Championship. A third was 1-0 over Premier League strugglers Fulham, who were down to 10 men for the last 46 minutes after Antonee Robinson got sent off with the game goalless. It was their league form that prompted the board to act — picking up seven points out of a possible 24 either side of Christmas was not good enough.

But obviously, it’s not just about results. There is a lot more to Tuchel’s work than that. People inside the club don’t regard the progress made so far as just part of a typical new-manager bounce.

So what has he done to help turn things around?

Speak to those connected to members of the senior squad about Tuchel and a common theme emerges.

“The ones that aren’t playing, he is always talking to them,” one source explains. “That’s the big difference Tuchel has made.

“It means something. If the manager chats to you when out of the side, you have a better feeling. You feel part of the group, still included, still part of it. He tells them what to do better, that kind of thing. He focuses on the whole team, the whole squad. He is very personable.”

Every manager has their way of doing things. Lampard had his methods and this isn’t a piece trying to show him in a negative light, to pick at old wounds. But if Tuchel operated the same way as Lampard, there wouldn’t have been any point in firing the club’s record goalscorer midway through his second season in charge.

Communication certainly seems to be one of Tuchel’s fortes. As this article on his opening 24 hours in his new role revealed (Welcome to Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel), players were taken to one side from the outset to discuss their situation and whether they’d feature in his debut game against Wolves. This has continued. There is dialogue on a daily basis.

This openness was on display when he decided to pick Kepa Arrizabalaga to start in goal against Barnsley and Newcastle instead of regular first-choice Edouard Mendy. Both men had the decision explained to them and knew in advance that Mendy would return at Southampton.

Understandably, others have been left upset or disappointed. Those who have featured a lot less since that first fixture on January 27 have still appreciated being told the reasons why, even if it only cushioned the blow to a degree. They are professionals with ambitions and egos after all.

Tuchel, who was sacked by Paris Saint-Germain on Christmas Eve, had already done some homework on Chelsea in the weeks preceding his appointment just in case he got the job. Still, he didn’t have much time to make what were some very important decisions. The first training session took place within minutes of him putting pen to paper on an 18-month contract and just a day before the Wolves game.

As he told BT Sport, who broadcast the match: “On the flight over (from Paris), we (Tuchel and his assistants Arno Michels, Zsolt Low, plus video analyst Benjamin Weber) decided what to do in training and how to play against Wolves.

“We’d watched (some of Chelsea’s) Champions League games, we had a clear impression. It was not too deep. It was not like we had prepared for weeks and weeks that this might come. Perhaps it was a good thing, as I didn’t overthink it. (Joining Chelsea) was a gut decision rather than from the brain.

“We decided on a back three so we could defend with five and have a quicker press on the five from Wolverhampton. To have three (at the back) versus two on their counter-attacks. These decisions were made on the plane. But going on the pitch was the best way to get to know each other.”

Tuchel built a reputation in his previous posts at Borussia Dortmund and PSG for using alternative techniques in training and he hasn’t disappointed. For example, ahead of the Burnley fixture on January 31, pictures emerged of the Chelsea players working out with miniature footballs.

The 47-year-old is far more hands-on in all the training drills than Lampard, who liked backroom staff members Jody Morris, Joe Edwards and Anthony Barry to take some of the sessions during the week while he observed the action.

In saying that, some members of the backroom team who Tuchel inherited are a lot more comfortable now. Lampard’s inner sanctum tended to only confide in each other. The fringe members who stayed on don’t feel as isolated from the man in charge.

Just like his predecessor, a busy schedule has restricted what and how much Tuchel can work on. Given the goals for and against columns reads 10 and two respectively from his first eight matches, it might not come as a big surprise that the defensive part of the game has been the main focus.

Tuchel recognised Chelsea’s squad is blessed with lots of attacking talent. What the side needed urgently was to get the structure right, to sort out the back line and their counter-pressing; to ensure opponents could be forced into mistakes, that Chelsea would press high and win the ball back.

Squad members already consider the match preparation to be more detailed and privately say they know their instructions far more clearly and understand the threat of the opposition with greater clarity. One player said: “When we walk out from the dressing room to the pitch, we know our jobs exactly, we know what the opponent will do and we know therefore that we will win.”

There was one word of caution from one agent, who did remark how it’s common in the sport for players to respond positively in this fashion following a change in the dug-out.

A separate source also noted how those at PSG found the level of communication to be overbearing and very stressful by the end, such is the nature of modern players who can crave detail one moment but then find it suffocating down the line.

The 3-4-2-1 system has worked to great effect so far, but Tuchel is keen to stress it is not set in stone for the rest of the campaign. In many ways, how Chelsea line up isn’t the issue anyway, it’s all about the attitude, the desire.

“I want the players to understand that the changes are not so big to go from a three to a four,” he tells BT Sport. “It’s a slight movement of 10 metres maybe, five metres higher or to the side. From there, you do the stuff that you are used to doing.

“There is a chance to switch formations if it suits us. But I don’t want the players to think that the solution (if things are going wrong) comes from a switch in formation. It might give the impression the solution always comes from me. The most important thing is how we live it, how everyone respects the principles: how we attack, how we defend, in the formation that we play. This is much more important than the formation. We can be strong in any formation.”

The drills he has put the players through up until now have been described as more technical and tactical than what went on before. Everyone has been given the impression there is a clean slate and there are no favourites; also, to go out and have fun on the field. This has all been well received. However, it is normal for a group of players who had been struggling for form and confidence to talk enthusiastically to those around them.

Some will be happier than others. Two of Lampard’s buys last summer, Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell, are unlikely to be too delighted at having only four starts between them under Tuchel. Nobody can really complain, though, due to the upturn in form.

Chelsea’s rearguard may get a sterner test in the next four Premier League games against Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Leeds, but it was still a notable feat to keep Atletico Madrid, despite their 6-3-1 formation, from registering a shot on target during the 90 minutes on Tuesday.

In the first XI that night for the seventh time in the new coach’s eight matches was Chelsea’s captain, Cesar Azpilicueta. Before Tuchel came along, the 31-year-old defender had started only 14 of their 29 games this season. There has been a notable change in fortune.

“I wanted to have the captain on the field, first thing,” Tuchel said to BT Sport. “It was clear for me when we had one day of training, with Thiago Silva at his side.”

Under Lampard, right-back Azpilicueta was being phased out in favour of academy product Reece James, who is a decade younger. The Spaniard’s presence was being used more for resolving any non-game related issues which cropped up. For example, when the club began negotiations with the squad about taking a pay cut during the pandemic, Azpilicueta was the go-between.

Tuchel’s decision to opt for three at the back has meant consistent minutes for Azpilicueta as a right-sided centre-back, the position then-Chelsea manager Antonio Conte picked him in between 2016-18. “Now he feels like a leader again on the pitch as well as off it,” another insider claims. “He is more empowered.”

Another indication of how Tuchel has made him feel this way is by taking the 25-cap Spain international with him to the meeting with the match officials before a fixture. The German sees Azpilicueta, who has made 409 Chelsea appearances since joining in summer 2012, as more than a captain. He is part of the club’s leadership team, like his backroom staff are.

Others to benefit from Tuchel’s arrival in terms of much more match action are Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Rudiger. Even keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had the rare recent experience of starting back-to-back games.

Despite initial concerns expressed outside of Stamford Bridge, Tuchel has continued to pick the academy players Lampard brought through, with Mason Mount and Hudson-Odoi able to consider themselves as among his first-team regulars after six starts in the eight games.

“There is a mixture of players,” a source says. “People said when Lampard left and Tuchel took over that it would be a return to just the foreigners… well, that has been shown to be bullshit. Everybody is inside. He’s brought the belief and the togetherness back. There is trust.

“For the players that were left out under Lampard it feels like they have gone from 8mph to 80mph. Since the first day, they felt integrated. There was something missing before. The spirit changed a lot.”

Someone else close to a first-team player added of Tuchel: “He wants everyone in the squad to feel good, to feel and be ready. You never know what is going to happen. There are players who loved Lampard, but it’s football, it’s Chelsea, things change.”

Crucially, Tuchel’s fluent English means he has adapted to his new surroundings very quickly. One of the reasons Lampard’s tenure was so welcomed after a long run of working with tetchy foreign coaches is that the dialogue within the club was so much better, whether it be with influential director Marina Granovskaia or with academy staff and others on-site at the Cobham training ground.

Nothing has changed in this regard, due to Tuchel’s personality. As he has shown in his press conferences, the man who took PSG to the Champions League final in August is prepared to joke and smile. And he is the same behind the scenes.

There is also no air of superiority around the place. One junior employee was surprised when he held a door open for Tuchel to walk through. The new Chelsea coach replied: “No, no. Why am I first? You’re my colleague. You got there first and should go through.”

Another initial impression that Tuchel has made on people is his professionalism: there is clarity in instruction, whether that be to players over tactics or staff over their duties. He remembers the details of passing conversations, things previous Chelsea head coaches would forget in the blink of an eye, and takes it all in.

As another contact explains: “He’s proactive. He will contact members of staff saying, ‘You know what you mentioned the other day? Let’s do it now’.”

This attribute extends to training drills, the medical staff, the analysts, admin workers and others. “It’s a small thing, but it shows they’re right on the detail,” the source says.

Chats with Granovskaia are believed to happen on a fairly regular basis and any initial concerns over the shortness of his contract, there is an option to extend it by another year, have now been forgotten.

“I was worried about that in the beginning,” Tuchel conceded to BT Sport. “It (agreeing the 18-month contract) was all done in 72 hours. I didn’t like it at first. (I was thinking) ‘What is this, don’t they trust me? I have to leave my country, my family, behind. They are many points behind fourth place and maybe we don’t make it… so maybe it’s easy to sack me again’. But in a matter of minutes I was like, ‘What does it change anyway?’ I took it off my shoulders.

“If I’m good, if they like what I’m doing, they will make me stay. If I’m not good, don’t get results, they will sack me anyway. I could have a five-year contract and (they can) still sack me, so why worry about it? Am I convinced about myself? This team? This club? Yes, yes and yes. So why worry about this number? I live a bit easier with it, I don’t worry about it so much. Maybe it’s better this way. Right now, I feel light, feel good. So I better use every day knowing how long (I have).”

There are suggestions from some quarters that the club want Tuchel to restore the value of players underused by Lampard. It is noticeable how much Marcos Alonso, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen have started games together compared to before. Kepa’s selection for those two matches mentioned above was also deemed as significant in this regard. However, as a consequence of using those players, others have suffered instead, so perhaps it’s just a theory.

On the whole, Tuchel has kept the way Chelsea operate the same. As far as he is concerned, if something worked before, he won’t alter it just to stamp his authority. In this regard, he is pretty laid-back.

Should the need arise to make alterations, he will do so. For example, he has tweaked the way the team travel.

It was standard procedure for the squad to stay together at a hotel the night before every match, even ones at home.

However, Tuchel has decided against this on more than one occasion. Chelsea flew to their matches at Sheffield United and Barnsley on the morning of those games. For Newcastle’s visit to Stamford Bridge, the players were told they could travel independently to the stadium.

It is understood Tuchel wants to limit the number of hotel stays. He sees it as a benefit for everyone, especially in such a busy season. People can spend a bit longer with their families and have a break from the intensity of being a member of the squad. Players are trusted to act responsibly.

A further indication of his faith in the players to do the right thing is his choice of penalty taker. While Jorginho has been designated first choice, it is not set in stone.

Before the Southampton game last weekend, Jorginho was named as a substitute. Tuchel was heard saying: “Tammy Abraham, Timo Werner, Mount… you’re all capable, who fancies it?” It was Mount who stepped up to take the spot-kick Chelsea were awarded in the second half, partly helped by Abraham’s substitution at the break.

It was in that game where Tuchel made his biggest decision yet — taking Hudson-Odoi off 31 minutes after he’d replaced Abraham at the interval. He then criticised the winger in the post-match press conference.

These are the kind of situations that can cause unrest in a camp. But Tuchel held a team meeting, discussing the situation in front of everyone. There was an element of contrition in his tone, an admission it may have been a bit harsh, a view he also expressed to the media. It is believed to have gone down well with the group. He also proved there were no recriminations by naming Hudson-Odoi in the XI against Atletico Madrid three days later.

Mendy spoke about Tuchel’s style of man-management following that victory over Diego Simeone’s outfit, held on neutral turf in Romanian capital Bucharest rather than in Madrid because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“We know what he wants, so when we are on the pitch we have to show why he has chosen us,” said Mendy, who faced Tuchel’s PSG twice with French rivals Riems in the 2018-19 season. “He is very expressive. He shows when he likes something. When you did well on the pitch and every day at training and in the game, he pushes you. He stays positive but he also shows his determination and that is good for me and the team.”

Tuchel respects the advice of the medical staff. On more than one occasion, individuals have been left out because he has been advised they are entering the “red zone”. With so much at stake over the next three months, he is worried about the possibility of damaging hamstring injuries and muscle pulls.

It is still early days and no one is getting carried away. Just like Lampard, Tuchel still has the problem of keeping a large squad happy. That is essentially an impossible task, because every one of them wants to play every game.

The laughter and grin are easy to maintain too with Chelsea on an upward trajectory. Nobody has seen yet how Tuchel will act off the back of successive defeats, for example.

But in summary, things couldn’t have gone any better.

Chelsea look a much stronger force to be reckoned with than they did a month ago.

The board will see their decision to replace Lampard with Tuchel as being vindicated… for now.

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

Training with smaller balls we used to do in the 60s . 

Charlie Cooke could do 250+ keepy uppy with a tennis ball 

Charlie-Cooke-Chelsea-best-ever-wingers.jpg (600×600) (chelseafclatestnews.com)

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Atomiswave 6,117]

19 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

He did promise that he wants us to be a nightmare to play against, a team no one will want to battle with.

[OneMoSalah 8,883]

32 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

Get the feeling Tuchel is going to be a real perfectionist in terms of how he wants us to play and that, hopefully, will drive the players on and challenge them. Maybe in the same sort of way we wanted Sarri to do so. 

[Jase 43,479]

23 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

Get the feeling Tuchel is going to be a real perfectionist in terms of how he wants us to play and that, hopefully, will drive the players on and challenge them. Maybe in the same sort of way we wanted Sarri to do so. 

The one good thing about Tuchel is that he doesn't try to micro-manage every move and isn't obsessed with set attacking patterns like some managers. He probably does a bit of the latter but also leave enough room for players to express themselves and make their own decision. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,375]

Not the biggest fan of our YouTube channel but really enjoyed the latest video. 

 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

4 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

Get the feeling Tuchel is going to be a real perfectionist in terms of how he wants us to play and that, hopefully, will drive the players on and challenge them. Maybe in the same sort of way we wanted Sarri to do so. 

The main difference is that Sarri was obsessed with his 4-3-3 adn insisted us only learning to play 4-2-3-1 once the 4-3-3 is mastered. Tuchel doesnt care much about the system and more about how the team moves as a unit in defence or attack, pressing or counter attacking. If he can translate this onto any system it does not really matter too much which system he picks.

[killer1257 3,282]

16 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

The main difference is that Sarri was obsessed with his 4-3-3 adn insisted us only learning to play 4-2-3-1 once the 4-3-3 is mastered. Tuchel doesnt care much about the system and more about how the team moves as a unit in defence or attack, pressing or counter attacking. If he can translate this onto any system it does not really matter too much which system he picks.

Somehow he changed the formation when he was at Juventus. They started with a 4-3-3, but they switched to a different system later on, so CR7 and Dybala could fit better into the system. 

But at Chelsea, it was just 4-3-3. 

[Vesper 30,085]

On 26/02/2021 at 11:56, Fulham Broadway said:

Training with smaller balls we used to do in the 60s . 

Charlie Cooke could do 250+ keepy uppy with a tennis ball 

Charlie-Cooke-Chelsea-best-ever-wingers.jpg (600×600) (chelseafclatestnews.com)

full 70's porn stache

[Supermonkey 38]

Needs to think about changing the formation more often. If CHO is playing forget the 5 at the back. 

 

We have a squad of pulisic, havertz, werner, mount, giroud, CHO and Ziyech for crying out loud. 4 of those should be on the pitch