The Tuchel Thread

[NikkiCFC 8,286]

100 days in job. Did more than Biden 👍

[Jase 43,479]

44 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Don't fix what ain't broken is the wrong way to think in football, it leads to the kind of stagnation we saw under Ancelotti and Conte.

Tuchel is known to change formations regularly in a season this is the first time he's really stuck to one for any significant length of time, so we could feasibly keep this up in the big games where it's working but do something else against the lesser sides. For all the incredible things he's done we have dropped a lot of points against teams we should be beating under TT and if we want to compete with Pep over a league season we really need to fix that.

I do think that Tuchel will play or try out the back 4 at some point but am not too sure if it is wise to constantly change formation in the Premier League, if his past is anything to go by. It may have worked in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 for him but highly doubt it will work in England. I remember Guardiola used to tinker a lot with the formation when he first came to the Premier League but then he eventually stopped doing it because it was hard to get any consistency going.

To be fair to Tuchel, although we have stuck with the back 3, he has made small tactical tweaks along the way. We have played 3-4-2-1, 3-4-1-2, 3-4-3 and more recently 3-1-4-2. He has also made us play less of the nonsense slow, possession football and play a more direct style (not route one football).

Regarding Ancelotti, think the biggest issue with his second season was the squad. We let players go and did not buy new ones to refresh the squad. They were almost on their last legs, as proven in the 2011/12. That squad was also wedded to only thrive in 4-3-3, although I remember Ancelotti did switch to 4-4-2 in the second half of that season to get us out of the slump.

As for Conte, he did try to change to the 3-5-2 but think he was too rigid with the way how he wanted to implement it. 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

1 hour ago, Jas said:

I do think that Tuchel will play or try out the back 4 at some point but am not too sure if it is wise to constantly change formation in the Premier League, if his past is anything to go by. It may have worked in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 for him but highly doubt it will work in England. I remember Guardiola used to tinker a lot with the formation when he first came to the Premier League but then he eventually stopped doing it because it was hard to get any consistency going.

To be fair to Tuchel, although we have stuck with the back 3, he has made small tactical tweaks along the way. We have played 3-4-2-1, 3-4-1-2, 3-4-3 and more recently 3-1-4-2. He has also made us play less of the nonsense slow, possession football and play a more direct style (not route one football).

Regarding Ancelotti, think the biggest issue with his second season was the squad. We let players go and did not buy new ones to refresh the squad. They were almost on their last legs, as proven in the 2011/12. That squad was also wedded to only thrive in 4-3-3, although I remember Ancelotti did switch to 4-4-2 in the second half of that season to get us out of the slump.

As for Conte, he did try to change to the 3-5-2 but think he was too rigid with the way how he wanted to implement it. 

Not sure how the tactical tweaks TT implemented so far can really be called a formation change. You are right about the change of passing speed and style tho.

What i noticed is how he has encouraged our quick CBs to bomb forward through the lines to carry the ball. Maybe it is just me but I think it is great to watch. Maybe he got that trick off Chris Wilder but Rüdiger running through midfield with his absurd pace is a sight  to behold. Possibly this is the future and a way to make a back 3 system more attacking, have offensively skilled players as CBs and use them to start attacks or even take shots.

As for Ancelotti 2nd season i thought we were unlcuky not to still win the league. The squad was old and unnecessarily thin but not finished. Lampard and Drogba both were still majestic, came off their highest scoring seasons and would have carried us to another league title if it had not been for stupid injuries and malaria. I think we actually rushed the rebuild there letting go both Deco and Ballack one year too early and only buying Ramires. Heck we once played with a Zhirkov-Ramires-Mikel midfield with Paulo Ferreira filling in in left back. damn that was painful and ended in disaster. Still we finished only like 4 points off and could have won it if we had won at OT and Goodison park in the final weeks. Obviously we lost the league in winter were we encurred a 13 point gap to Manure. Overall, you are probably right. The chance to properly reinforce and replace the Old Guard was the 2010/2011 window.

[Jase 43,479]

2 hours ago, Magic Lamps said:

Not sure how the tactical tweaks TT implemented so far can really be called a formation change. You are right about the change of passing speed and style tho.

Whatever you want to call it, at least Tuchel hasn't stuck with just the same, one formation like Sarri did with his 4-3-3 in every game, even when it's not working. Tuchel is constantly looking for options, solutions and/or variations. It's probably the first time since Mourinho 1.0 that we have had such a flexible manager in charge. 

2 hours ago, Magic Lamps said:

What i noticed is how he has encouraged our quick CBs to bomb forward through the lines to carry the ball. Maybe it is just me but I think it is great to watch. Maybe he got that trick off Chris Wilder but Rüdiger running through midfield with his absurd pace is a sight  to behold. Possibly this is the future and a way to make a back 3 system more attacking, have offensively skilled players as CBs and use them to start attacks or even take shots.

Isn't it similar to what Conte did with Azpi in his back 3 system? He had a lot of joy setting up goals for Morata back then. 

[Spike 12,049]

15 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

Not counting WBA we conceded 5 goals in 23 games under Tuchel.

Rudi own goal, against Southampton because Zouma played in the middle, Benzema after corner and Palace plus Porto after crosses. Definitely our best defense in 15 years. When you have defense like this everything else is easier to do.

I feel putting Chris in the back 3 with Silva and Rudi improved us even further with Azpi as RWB. With this defense only Benzema scored after corner.

Our level drops with Zouma so Kurt and Tomori both should be sold this summer. Get one top CB, Varane is available so we would have 4 of them competing for 3 spots plus Azpi as 5th guy there. But even if we get Varane it would be hard for him to be a starter but with Silva ageing we need for rotation anyway.

Varane is prone to absolute meltdowns. No thanks. He wouldn't be available if he was as talented as his hype suggested.

[MoroccanBlue 5,375]

Thought Varane was awful against us as well. Not been too impressed with him the past couple years. 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

6 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Thought Varane was awful against us as well. Not been too impressed with him the past couple years. 

Varane has been awful without Ramos beside him. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,375]

Just now, Blues Forever said:

Varane has been awful without Ramos beside him. 

So another Cahill/David Luiz?

No thank you

[Beigl 1,387]

1 hour ago, MoroccanBlue said:

So another Cahill/David Luiz?

No thank you

To compare Varane to David Luiz is a bit far fetched. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,375]

1 hour ago, Beigl said:

To compare Varane to David Luiz is a bit far fetched. 

Not really if you've watched Varane recently.  Calamity of mistakes Luiz would be proud of. 

[Beigl 1,387]

25 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Not really if you've watched Varane recently.  Calamity of mistakes Luiz would be proud of. 

Its not like their midfield offers good protection for their defenders. 

[ahmedou 188]

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