Jurgen & I have done this before when we stalked Bayern in the Bundesliga ... we’ll not stop chasing
THOMAS TUCHEL reckons he and Jurgen Klopp are perfectly placed to lead Chelsea and Liverpool’s pursuit of Manchester City.
That’s because it is just like the old days when they hunted down Bayern Munich at Borussia Dortmund.
City dominate English football in much the same way the boys from Bavaria boss things in the Bundesliga.
But Klopp twice masterminded Dortmund title triumphs and Tuchel is convinced he was also on track to do the same before he was sacked after just two seasons in charge.
Today, both will hope for the result that keeps them – albeit just – on City’s coattails, and Tuchel will be doing everything in his power to reduce the 11-point gap to Pep Guardiola’s leaders.
He said: “It’s no problem and as long as I’m here in my ‘Borussia Chelsea’, I will do nothing else than make other teams underperform.
“We will even try to make Manchester City underperform.
“We will not stop and, Jurgen, I’m pretty sure he will do the same to get the best out of Liverpool.
Belief
“We will not stop chasing, we will not stop believing.
“Maybe the difference to the situation right now in the Bundesliga is that at Chelsea we have the belief.
“But we have to face reality and, if you look at 2021, you have to admit that City have something like 20 points more than us and Liverpool.
“We are next in that race but it’s a big gap – a big gap in points and goals scored.
“I said when I arrived, we have to close the gap as soon as possible and this will not stop.
“Maybe it’s longer than a oneseason race to catch City because they will not stop improving.
“But the huge difference at this moment is the situation with injuries and Covid.
“I am convinced that if we were in the same place without injuries and having key players not out for weeks and being hit by Covid so hard at the same time, we would have more points and could still be in the back of them.
“Everything maybe needs to fall into place for us so that we can produce the kind of consistent level that City, and normally Liverpool, can produce.
“That’s why
there’s no need to get negative, no need to lose faith.
“The opposite – we will stay hungry.
“Jurgen did it with Dortmund. We came close and were stopped unfortunately in the middle of the process.
“So both of us know how to catch favourites and we will not stop doing it, or trying to do it.”
Tuchel has huge respect for what City have achieved.
He added: “It’s quality all over the club, not only in the squad but also management and how the club is run. It is a winning machine.
“They have five, six years now of consistency. That makes it hard.
“It does not make it impossible and we will never stop believing and stop pushing, but we have to be realistic and at the moment we are struggling.”
That struggle started in December with three draws and a
defeat costing Chelsea points in the title race as injuries and illness ravaged Tuchel’s squad.
To add insult to those injuries, then came the airing of Romelu Lukaku’s controversial interview last week.
And Tuchel added: “It has been pretty challenging. There’s a lot going on, I have to admit.
“But we are here for the challenge.
“Things are easier if you have results, the noise is not so loud, the distractions not so heavy.
“The challenging thing about it is that it is not only about tactics, the game and technical solutions, offensively and defensively, it is about some heavy influences around us that we cannot control.
“It is maybe for everybody but, in high-level sports, these things can feel like you’re running against the wind all the time.
“It’s challenging but nothing we don’t like – we’re still good to go because we love what we do.”
Everything needs to fall into place but there’s no need for us to get negative, no need to lose faith. We will
stay hungry