Thomas Tuchel is set to replace Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager after Roman Abramovich sacked the Blues legend following a disappointing run of form.
He will join Chelsea after a short period of unemployment, having been relieved of his duties at Paris Saint-Germain just before the new year.
Tuchel’s first big break as a coach came in 2009 when he replaced Jurgen Klopp as manager of Mainz in the Bundesliga and, six years later, he replaced Klopp again when he was appointed Dortmund boss in 2015. Tuchel’s work with Dortmund earned him plenty of recognition across Europe as one of the brightest minds in coaching and he was hired as PSG head coach in 2018, spending two-and-a-half-years at the helm.
Tuchel is often likened to legendary German coach Jurgen Klopp due to the fact that he has been hired as a direct replacement for him on two separate occasions. However, while there are indeed similarities, his football philosophy and personality is very much his own.
Tactically, Tuchel has made use of the sort of gegenpressing approach that became synonymous with Klopp’s ‘Heavy Metal Football’, but he is arguably a lot more pragmatic. As well as making use of 4-3-3 at both Dortmund and PSG, Tuchel has also deployed the 3-5-2 formation (or 5-3-2, depending on defensive mentality), with wide forward play complemented by flying full-backs.
Man-marking is a trait of Tuchel teams, with highly energetic midfielders put to work in order quickly close down opponents, in turn, allowing the attackers more freedom to roam in the final third.
Tuchel is set to join a Chelsea side who are languishing in ninth in the Premier League table – five points adrift of the top four and 11 behind current leaders Manchester United.
The issue however, is that Tuchel has been demanded to propel Chelsea – who were once tipped as contenders for Premier League glory under Lampard – back up the table in the next few months.
Seeing how Lampard was not given more time to turn the Blues’ fortunes around, Tuchel could face the problem of ‘failure’ very quickly as he has to battle the likes of Man Utd, Man City, Leicester City, Everton and West Ham – all of whom have pretty decent form as of late, and they aren’t going to slow down.
With less than half a season to go, Tuchel is doomed to fail if he needs to propel Chelsea to the top by the end of the campaign. He could, however, do his magic if he’s given more time to build a team of his own.
