Where Thomas Tuchel proves his longevity at Chelsea

Thomas Tuchel did what seemed impossible just under a year ago. He took a team that had been beaten and battered throughout December and half of January and he turned them into a side that could go toe to toe with anyone. For the first time since Antonio Conte’s reign, Chelsea looked among the best in the world. They would cap the season off with their second Champions League.

And you know what? None of that is going to matter if things continue as they currently are. Last year, when Frank Lampard was sacked, the talk was about standards. Not projects or building but standards. And regardless of how one feels about Thomas Tuchel, the recent results simply haven’t been up to par. Regardless of how many causes someone can rightfully point out, the recent results simply haven’t been up to par. And at the end of the day, what happened six months ago will matter much less to Roman Abramovich and Marina Granovskaia than what is happening right now.

This moment where Chelsea is slipping away from the top is the moment for Thomas Tuchel to prove he is different. This is where he proves his longevity. Chelsea fans have begged for it for so long that it seems a myth every time a manager is sacked. Tuchel, perhaps more than most, has the tools to turn that myth into reality. But he, like everyone else, will have to prove he is the one.

First of all, let’s deal with the main reasons why the form has dropped off so much. Injuries are obviously the biggest factor, followed closely by Covid. Tied to that is the fatigue of players having to fill in for those spots. Chelsea’s squad is deep, but that doesn’t matter much when all the depth is wiped out and where there is depth Tuchel still has favorites (see Reece James having started all but two games since the November break). Finally are the tactical issues that have arisen as Tuchel dug into three at the back. It is a formation that worked before, but it is harder to say it is still working.

Now with Ben Chilwell and Reece James both injured long term, it is much harder to see the Blues sticking to three at the back for much longer. There are players that can fill in either side, yes, but the time for them to do so was when the games were easier. Playing the likes of Marcos Alonso, Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi, or Cesar Azpilicueta as wingbacks against Manchester City, Liverpool, and Antonio Conte’s Tottenham without changing the highline and press is begging for disaster.

Four at the back could finally be one solution, but no matter what shape the Blues go into they are simply shuffling problems around. Some issues, however, would be easier to solve in the January market than others. Wingbacks remain a rather niche position worldwide to buy one or two in the winter window. It would be much easier to buy midfielders or centerbacks that could help the transition to four at the back.

Regardless of how Tuchel decides to solve this problem, he has to do so fast. The month of January is sparing nothing. Premier League fixtures against Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham will be filled in with two Carabao Cup fixtures against Tottenham. The lone rotation game at the moment is Chesterfield in the FA Cup and, should the Blues do what they should do, there will be another FA Cup match in early February that may need to be rescheduled for the Club World Cup.

Tuchel and Chelsea can’t afford to slip up in January and the current picture could look one of two ways come February. The first way is Tuchel finds whatever solutions he needs to find and the Blues repeat their earlier heroics against big teams and come out of the month right back in the race. The second way is Chelsea continues in January as they did in December and February arrives with Tuchel in a very hot seat that may or may not have already been ejected from the car. That’s the standards Chelsea has, rightly or wrongly, outside circumstances or not.

Tuchel deserves to stay at the club regardless of how the next month turns out, but that simply isn’t the Chelsea that exists. Abramovich and Granovskaia demand results. It doesn’t matter what happened before, how pretty the style is, or how much potential the project has. Results are the be all end all at Chelsea Football Club and Tuchel has to find ways to get them this next month before it becomes someone else’s problem.