Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is setting the standard

Chelsea has gotten off to quite a remarkable start to its Premier League campaign. Loads of talk before the season started centered around the Blues’ very tricky opening set of fixtures, facing four of the traditional ‘big six’ in the first six matches. The European champions strengthened their squad in the summer transfer window by signing Belgian international Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan. Many said that Lukaku was the missing piece of the Chelsea puzzle. Timo Werner created many goal scoring opportunities in the 2020/21 league season, however, he wasn’t necessarily the clinical center forward he was at RB Leipzig.

After managing 16 points from a possible 21 from the opening seven league matches, Chelsea sat atop the league, a point above Liverpool and two ahead of reigning Premier League champion, Manchester City. The Blues then went on a run of scoring 11 goals in their next three games and conceding none. Having seen their title rivals drop points in matchweek 10, they are now three points ahead of Liverpool and five points ahead of City. Chelsea has only conceded three goals in 10 Premier League matches, two of which were penalties and the other a Gabriel Jesus deflected goal.

The west Londoners have a staggering 17 different goalscorers in all competitions. Right wingback Reece James and Lukaku are joint top goal scorers. Striking duo Lukaku and Werner have been unavailable for Chelsea since both were injured in the first half in a UEFA Champions League group stage match against Malmo at Stamford Bridge. The forwards are both expected to be available again after the November international break, meaning the Blues will likely be able to keep up its winning ways instituted by Thomas Tuchel.

Chelsea’s gotten off to a hot start and that form will only continue with Thomas Tuchel at the helm as he’s set the standard for the club

Tuchel has made Chelsea a real force to be reckoned with again. When the Blues’ hierarchy sacked Frank Lampard in January, plenty of eyebrows were raised, especially from the fans and the media saying the decision was ‘harsh’. A few days later, Tuchel, previously manager of Paris Saint-Germain, came to the dugout at Stamford Bridge. That decision is what separates Chelsea and a club the likes of Manchester United, for example. Doesn’t matter if one was a club legend or not, the decision to sack Lampard was a mere business decision and no love was lost. The Blues were ruthless and that managerial change led them to a second Champions League trophy.

The German saw his team to a 3-0 thrashing of Newcastle United at St. James’ Park over the weekend. That result meant that Chelsea have now won 10 of its last 14 Premier League away games under Tuchel, securing a fascinating 33 points from a possible 42. The Blues’ players are just setting ridiculous standards. Eduoard Mendy already has 33 clean sheets in 57 appearances for Chelsea. James has already been involved in seven goals this season, scoring four and assisting three times in all competitions. Andreas Christensen has 43 clean sheets in 53 games for club and country.

This weekend’s result against Newcastle felt like a huge moment in the title race. It’s still early, but the Blues always struggled at St. James’ Park. Look at the previous managers: Jose Mourinho never won there in the league with Chelsea, Antonio Conte and Frank Lampard also tasted defeats on that ground. Therefore, Tuchel coming away with a statement result to put Chelsea three points clear of the chasing pack, was huge. Should the Blues win the Premier League this season, it would be very hard to argue against Tuchel being the greatest Chelsea manager ever.

Tuchel believes that his team has closed the gap to fellow title challengers, Liverpool and Man City. There is still a very long way to go this season, but Chelsea is very much on the right track. Consistency will hold key for the European champions. The Blues are in the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup, second in their Champions League group and on top of the Premier League table. This is appearing to be another special campaign in the making for supporters all over the globe.

What do you make of the job Tuchel is doing thus far? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!