Looking back at year one of Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea reign
It’s been a year like no other for the current Chelsea manager. The impact that German coach Thomas Tuchel has had on the football club has been revolutionary, to say the least. Tuchel marked his one-year in charge with a comfortable 2-0 victory over London rival Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend (although the official anniversary is January 26). Here is a look back at the lovable manager’s journey in SW6 thus far.
The Blues’ board made a huge decision in January 2021, sacking club legend Frank Lampard after just 18 months in charge after losing patience in Lampard’s project at the club. A majority of the fans, ex-players and pundits believed he had to be given more time because the club invested so much on players like Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and others. The Blues’ faithful had optimistic expectations heading into the league campaign of mounting a serious title charge. However, that optimism faded in late December and early January as Chelsea dropped 17 points from a possible 24, losing key matches in that run against Arsenal and Manchester City.
The Chelsea hierarchy acted swiftly by sacking Lampard on the back of a 3-1 win in the FA Cup against Luton Town. Replacing Lampard, in came Tuchel, the former Paris Saint-Germain manager. Tuchel was a proven winner at PSG and Borussia Dortmund. He won the Ligue 1 title twice and finishing runner-up in the UEFA Champions League with PSG and finished as the runner-up in the Bundesliga with Dortmund in 2015/16 before heading to London.
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Thomas Tuchel has been at Chelsea for one year now, here is how its gone so far
When Tuchel was appointed, many eyebrows were raised as only a month prior, PSG sacked Tuchel after having a public fallout with the club’s hierarchy over new signings. The German immediately hit the ground running with a Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers less than 24 hours after he was appointed. The ultimate aim for Tuchel was to get Chelsea back into the top four after Lampard left the side in ninth position. Tuchel made a massive impact, winning 11 of the 19 league games remaining and conceding only 13 goals in that spell. Most importantly, he got the Blues into the fourth spot at the end of matchday 38.
Chelsea made it all the way to the FA Cup final the same season to play against Leicester City. However, the Blues fell short in claiming their ninth FA Cup trophy via a 1-0 defeat at Wembley. Tuchel also went on a pretty special Champions League run with Chelsea, getting it all the way to the final to play against Man City in Porto. The German managed to overcome his failings from a year before, going one step further with his new club and winning the Blues’ second ever UCL trophy, his first as a manager. Three months after winning the Champions League, Tuchel and Chelsea won the UEFA Super Cup, beating Europa League winners Villarreal in Belfast.
It was a near-perfect first year in charge for Tuchel in west London. The German won his first ever Champions League trophy, Super Cup trophy and along with that, a couple of individual awards. He won the Best FIFA Men’s Coach and also the UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year for 2021. Tuchel also signed a contract extension until 2024 straight after the Champions League triumph.
The German coach believes that the club has allowed him to be the best version of himself and also noted that the trust and belief in him from the club has proven to be key in his success so far in west London. “The company here, the support here at the club, from day one, it’s been outstanding. I feel so good,” said Tuchel in his recent press conference. He certainly has the backing of the board and a huge majority of the fans trust Tuchel, as well.
Tuchel’s second year is already set to be more of a challenge than his first after numerous key injured players like Ben Chilwell (out for season) and Reece James, who is set to miss a couple of weeks still with a hamstring injury. There has also been a concerning number of COVID-19 cases in the Premier League, which left the Blues squad disjointed, despite having no gamed postponed. Meanwhile, other clubs had plenty of matches pushed back due to positive cases and injuries.
The wingback pair has been so crucial in the way that Chelsea has attacked teams this season. James had a run of three goals in two matches and Chilwell had a good run of four goals in four matches. They not only had the plethora of goal contributions, but also the consistency of very good performances, which gave the whole squad a lift. The Blues were at the top of the league for a healthy number of weeks due to the success in these areas.
Chelsea has fallen well off the level it was at the start of the season following Chilwell’s injury. The Blues have made their way to an English League Cup final at Wembley, where they will play Liverpool at the end of February. Tuchel’s team has made it out of the Champions League group stage, as well, as runner-up in Group H. Chelsea will face Lille in the Round of 16. 10 points behind the leader Man City, having played a game more than the Citizens, the title push looks like a bit of a scratch at the moment. But when there’s always hope, there is a chance. After all, this is football.
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