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Why Thomas Tuchel is Chelsea's biggest weapon
Ask fans and pundits to identify Chelsea’s biggest weapon in this season’s Premier League title race and many will point to Romelu Lukaku, the £98m striker who has hit the ground running with a flurry of goals early this season.
Others will argue the case for N’Golo Kante, with the Frenchman’s impact off the bench in Chelsea’s 3-0 away win over Tottenham Hotspur solid evidence for this point.
However, what unfolded in North London on Sunday afternoon was proof that Thomas Tuchel, over any player on the pitch, is the figure who could make the difference for the Stamford Bridge club in the scrap at the top of the table. He is the Premier League’s best coach right now.
Is Thomas Tuchel the best manager in the PL
This is saying something considering Tuchel’s peers.
Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp are widely seen as two of the best managers of their generation, but both men have had questions asked of them recently.
Liverpool’s dramatic decline last season prompted doubts as to whether Klopp could evolve his team’s approach while Guardiola’s blind spots have been exposed in the Champions League.
As Chelsea manager, there has been no such doubts cast against Tuchel and the way he changed the dynamic of Sunday’s clash with Spurs demonstrated so.
Chelsea faced a genuine challenge from an opposition team that has already shown their capacity for the big occasion this season, but this only brought the best out of Tuchel.
In-play tactics key for Chelsea
At half time, the visitors looked to be struggling.
Tottenham pressed high on Chelsea which unsettled the build-up play of the European champions.
Jorginho had his pass completion rate knocked down to 83.9%, his lowest completion rate of the season so far, as Spurs looked to take the game to their rivals.
⏱ HT
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) September 19, 2021
⬜️ Tottenham - 0 (0.69 xG)
🔵 Chelsea - 0 (0.44 xG)#TOTCHE pic.twitter.com/9gsT3huCwX
Tuchel, however, recognised how the introduction of N’Golo Kante for the start of the second half would steady his team in the centre of the pitch and 12 minutes later, Chelsea were two goals to the good.
From there, they were able to maintain their shape and suffocate the game with Tottenham unable to play through the opposition midfield trio of Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic.
While Mason Mount had struggled to get on the ball in the first half, making just 18 passes, Kante made a difference, registering 33 passes and 40 touches in 45 minutes of play.
The shift into a front two, with Kai Havertz alongside Lukaku, also allowed Chelsea to maintain possession further forward. When they took a commanding 2-0 lead, Tuchel introduced Timo Werner for Havertz to further expose Spurs on the break.
It’s not just that Chelsea have options all over the pitch, it’s that they have a manager able to utilise their qualities in a number of different ways.
⏱ FT
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) September 19, 2021
⬜️ Tottenham - 0 (0.78 xG)
🔵 Chelsea - 3 (2.50 xG)#TOTCHE #CFC pic.twitter.com/mFVt4wNB0p
There are similarly strong squads in the Premier League this season, but Tuchel is most comfortable at toggling between approaches.
See how Guardiola failed to change the game from the bench as Manchester City laboured to a goalless draw at home to Southampton on Saturday and contrast that with the actions taken by Tuchel in Chelsea’s away win over Spurs a day later.
Even when Tuchel has to shift things the other way to protect a result, he can - see the 1-1 draw away to Liverpool where Chelsea played a full half with 10 men.
Identifying weaknesses key
Against Tottenham, there were even gains made in the way Tuchel recognised the vulnerability of Emerson Royal and weighted his team’s play towards Marcos Alonso on the left wing, with the Spanish wing back having more touches of the ball than anyone else (98).
Alonso also made four key passes and attempted an astonishing 15 crosses as he produced a performance that was reminiscent of a left-sided Trent Alexander-Arnold.
It was up to him to create and drive Chelsea forward. This came from Tuchel’s instruction.
World class coach making a difference
At times, Tuchel’s Chelsea team play with many of the principles that made Jose Mourinho such a success at the club.
At other times, though, they are Antonio Conte-esque in the way they drive forward at pace, and in the way they find width through wing backs and security in a back three.
In midfield, the control Chelsea have is similar to the kind they had during the Carlo Ancelotti years. There is even a hint of ‘Sarri-ball’ in their use of possession.
Deliberately or not, Tuchel is borrowing ideas employed by many of his Chelsea predecessors and merging them into one, multi-faceted approach.
In an age of coaching ideologies and chalkboard philosophers, it has never been more important to have a world class manager.
The margin for managerial error at the top of the Premier League table is minuscule, but in Tuchel Chelsea have a manager who finds advantages in those margins.