Tinkerman Tuchel finds winning move
FOR A long time at Vicarage Road, Chelsea were heading for more frustration. They were stuttering badly — on course for a third league draw in four games and surrendering top spot to Manchester City.
But as well as possessing a squad packed with players capable of winning matches they perhaps do not deserve to win, they have a manager who can, too.
Tuchel’s gesticulating was growing increasingly wild and animated as his side struggled to break down and contain Watford. But he was plotting the tweaks to turn one point into three. Eventually Tuchel pulled it off and managed, in his own words, to steal the points.
Tuchel made an alteration at half-time, replacing the struggling Saul Niguez with Thiago Silva.
That forced a reshuffle which saw Trevoh Chalobah move forward into midfield before he then also had to come off.
It would have been easy for Tuchel to go for one of the defensive options on his bench, but he instead turned to attacking midfielder Hakim Ziyech and fortune favoured the brave when he scored the game’s decisive goal.
‘Super Tommy Tuchel’ indeed, as the away fans sang.
Chelsea were well below par and clinging on at the end as Watford laid siege to their goal.
But the three points ensured they retain top spot in the league.
The game itself had earlier been overshadowed by the collapse of a Watford supporter in the Graham Taylor Stand who suffered a cardiac arrest and required around 20 minutes of treatment.
There was a total delay of around 30 minutes as both teams were taken off the pitch by referee David Coote.
Thankfully, the fan was stabilised sufficiently to be taken by ambulance for treatment at neighbouring Watford General Hospital.
The players were not happy to return to the pitch until they were certain the supporter’s condition was heading in a positive direction. ‘We had the break due to very sad circumstances, hopefully the person is better,’ said Tuchel, before assessing his team’s performance: ‘I will not insist (dwell) too long on this match because it’s so unusual for us to play like this. That’s not us.
‘We were absolutely not ready for this match. We stole three points. We don’t have to talk around it. For the first time it feels like a lucky win.’
Before the enforced break due to the 10th-minute medical emergency, Chelsea were under the cosh and in the wars.
Andreas Christensen — back in the team after receiving a contract ultimatum from Tuchel — and Edouard Mendy both suffered knocks as Watford made the early running. But, following the resumption, Mason Mount hit the post with what proved to be a warning for Watford and then put Chelsea ahead after being coolly teed up by Marcos Alonso and Kai Havertz.
The dangerous Emmanuel Dennis levelled for the home team before half time and if Moussa Sissoko should have turned the game on its head before the break, the second half also could have gone either way. But it was Chelsea who nicked the victory thanks to Tuchel’s latest intervention and Ziyech’s sweeping finish from Mount’s good delivery. Another Chelsea substitute, Romelu Lukaku, also had a role to play in repelling Watford late on with some important defensive contributions. Watford remain fourth-bottom but manager Claudio Ranieri said: ‘If we continue this way, to fight, we’re going to change our story.’