TUCHEL’S CYCLE OF SUCCESS
Sheff United
THOMAS TUCHEL will take a leaf out of cycling kingpin Sir Dave Brailsford’s book as he bids to prevent Chelsea’s unbeaten record becoming a millstone around their necks.
The Blues boss (above) has yet to taste defeat in 13 games since arriving at Stamford Bridge in January.
But as proud as he is of that achievement, ahead of today’s FA Cup quarterfinal with Sheffield United he has stressed the importance of a single, solitary victory.
Tuchel said: “I spoke many years ago here in London to the leader of the cycling team of Sky, Sir Dave Brailsford, who won the Tour de France a few times.
“And he was very concerned about not wanting to enter a state of mind where you fear the loss of a record more than the hunger and adventure of winning the next race.
“I don’t want to enter this, either, so the refocus is always part of the process.
“If we look too much at what we have achieved, that ‘we protect this, what we have’… this is already in the past. If it’s 13, 14, 15 or whatever we can make it, it doesn’t matter. It’s natural that sometimes maybe you step back and want to protect it, and you maybe enter the next game thinking, ‘Let’s not ruin this’.
“But I always want us to be brave and to refocus, to go for the next win and not to avoid the loss that kills our record. The record is already history.
“The next game with Sheffield United is one game and this is the most important.
“And then I demand from myself and the team and everybody the maximum.”
So Chelsea’s focus today is exclusively on the FA Cup – and not what may or may not happen in the Premier League and Champions League in the coming weeks.
Tuchel added: “The point is that I don’t place it in terms of importance.
”The most important is that we compete for every competition.
“We play for the top space. We play
Champions League, we play to win every game and if we play the Cup, we play to win every game and compete for the maximum.
“The challenge, first of all, the first step is to admit that we challenge for every competition that we play in because this is Chelsea. Then there are no preferences.”