9. Slipping comfortably into big shoes to fill
Regardless of where you fall on Lampard’s tenure as Chelsea manager, whoever followed him was going to have a big pair of shoes to fill. Lampard is one of the most important figures in Chelsea’s history and results aside any sacking was going to create a lot of feelings in the fanbase. Many potential managers would have looked at Chelsea and the manner in which they sacked Lampard and steered clear. After all, if they couldn’t give their own legend time, what hope do they have?
But Tuchel took on that challenge despite his own reservations. Had fans been allowed to go to those initial games, those matches likely (and understandably) would have been flavored by the fan reaction. Instead, Tuchel has been able to lay down his own marker and quickly make the team his own.
It was a hell of an ask for any manager and Tuchel took up the challenge. Not only that, he quickly soothed the post Lampard sacking woes in the team and the fanbase and made this his own situation. He was brave to take the job in those circumstances (especially only a month after being sacked at PSG and only getting an 18 month contract) and he has done splendidly so far.
10. Good, but imperfect results show more promise than not
Tuchel’s record is near perfect thus far though some of the performances are still in need of work. As already noted, the defense has been superb the offense has been mostly lacking. Individual brilliance from midfielders and penalties is not a sustainable way to win matches (unless you’re Manchester United and can bank on one penalty a game). The Blues may not look like losing games, and they may have the grit to always look like winning, but actual winning doesn’t seem as simple as it has looked on the score sheet as of late.
That being said, for Tuchel to join a very battered side midseason and rally them like this is impressive. When he joined, fourth looked like more of a pipe dream than not. He immediately improved the mood and defense and has rode a bit of luck to put up his impressive record thus far. There are questions about sustainability but a foundation does appear to be laid and performances are looking more solid game to game.
Tuchel’s gotten the results in an imperfect way thus far but there is a hint of promise in the side that has been missing in Lampard’s closing stages. The Blues feel like they have higher levels they can reach and while everything isn’t perfect, the Blues do feel like they are going in the right direction with Tuchel in charge.
What have you learned from Tuchel thus far? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!