New Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel knows what he walked into

New Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has technically already made his first impression before his first Chelsea press conference. That being said, his first presser was a great chance for him to lay out the ins and outs of his Chelsea tenure. In that presser, he showed that he was well aware of what he was walking into.

One thing that needed to be addressed was the shadow of Frank Lampard. Regardless of where anyone stands on the sacking, he is a Chelsea legend. Right or wrong in the sack, seeing a legend leave at this point was always going to cause upheaval.

Tuchel could have shied away from the question, dodged it, or given a hollow answer of “I don’t want to talk about the past”. Instead, he addressed it head on. He said he understood that there would be massive disappointment in the fanbase. He talked about how he was a Lampard fan and how few players could personify the Chelsea way like Lampard. Lampard sent him a message to wish him luck and Tuchel had nothing bad to say about him.

It may be some time before Stamford Bridge sees fans again, but simply by acknowledging Lampard’s shadow, Tuchel gave himself an early chance of escaping it. Things are surely not going to be as they were when Rafa Benitez replaced Roberto Di Matteo, but simply acknowledging the feelings of supporters will go a long way for Tuchel.

But that raises an even bigger shadow of Chelsea’s history of hiring and firing. Having only been sacked a month prior, Tuchel was well aware of that history while understanding the “why” of it. Chelsea is about results. How those results come about is secondary to the result itself. He mentioned “soft” points of success such as fans being excited to watch Chelsea but the result is the be all end all.

That was an issue for Maurizio Sarri, as it has been for other aesthetics managers in the league over the years. Tuchel wants Chelsea to play attacking football in a beautiful way, but he knows that doing so won’t save him if the results aren’t there. It is simply the reality of being the Chelsea manager.

He did acknowledge that the league title was gone but he didn’t shy away from the FA Cup or even the Champions League. He stated that he had the “biggest ambitions” and Chelsea’s desire for success didn’t scare him. He has the same expectations for himself.

To do so, he will need the backing of the squad. He already seems to have a plan for that. He frequently noted the size of the squad and how there were 20 or 21 players he could count on across all three competitions. He noted that he explained to the players who missed out versus Wolves why they did so. Tuchel didn’t shy away that part of his appointment might have had to do with Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, but didn’t believe it was the only reason he got the job.

Especially after the Wolves XI came out, there was a fear that Frank Lampard’s youth revolution would fade away. Tuchel’s history in support of the youth aside, he was glowing about Mason Mount and Billy Gilmour. He tends to use large teams and he will push everyone, the youth included, hard to develop as players.

But overall, Tuchel’s presser was one of bringing everyone back together. He’s stepped into a club in midtable but with silverware dreams. He’s stepped into a club that just sacked one of their greatest players of all time. Shoulders have dropped and the mood among the fans and the team is low. Tuchel wants to bring everyone back together again and shoot for the moon.

So far so good from the German coach. If the goal of his first presser was to alleviate fears all around and close some wounds, he got off to a good start. With Burnley up next, he will have a quick opportunity to show which way the Blues are going.