I KNOW IT IS ALL OR NOTHING AT BLUES
FIERY TUCHEL SETS OUT HIS GROUND RULES
THOMAS TUCHEL has outlined his plan to turn Chelsea into title winners during his 18-month contract.
And if all goes well, he might treat the Chelsea fans to winning the FA Cup and Champions League along the way.
His rallying cry was a response to the pressure for instant results put upon him after the sacking of Frank Lampard despite the disappointment of an opening goalless draw against Wolves on Wednesday. “If Chelsea calls and you decide to jump in, you know what you’re in for,” Tuchel said. “For me it’s better to speak it out loud and it’s nothing to be afraid of. We will do our very best to fulfil our dreams and to fulfil the dreams of our supporters.
“We want to create a team that is absolutely no fun to play against and that is confident enough to beat anybody in two games [in the Champions League].
“Then the points will come. This will bring us hopefully to
AFTER a manic first 48 hours with Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel’s official unveiling yesterday seemed a little belated.
By the time he started setting out his plans, he had held two training sessions, got a goalless draw with Wolves and seemed to have upset half the club’s fans by dropping Mason Mount from his starting line-up.
But, after being sacked by Paris SaintGermain on Christmas Eve, it is understandable the German had been eager to get stuck into his new job.
“I had a pretty rubbish Christmas job-wise, then four weeks later I find the best present still left under the tree,” he said.
And now the time had come for Chelsea supporters to fully unwrap just who Roman Abramovich had sent down the chimney to replace club legend Frank Lampard.
Jose Mourinho famously used his unveiling in 2004 to introduce us to the “Special One”.
Of course, it is much harder to make or break a career over a Zoom call, but Tuchel certainly managed to be more charm than offensive.
The noises from Europe were not good. The 47-year-old had rowed with PSG sporting director Leonardo over transfers and neither Mainz nor Borussia Dortmund had seemed sorry to see the back of him.
So having heard him say how much he liked things to be clear and in the open, it was put to him bluntly: Why does Tuchel have a reputation for rubbing people up the wrong way?
“It’s pure passion, for sure,” he said. “Also some principles. Your word is your word and I trust the word of a man. Once I lose the trust…”
Presumably in reference to his PSG exit, he added: “Look, I know what you are talking about. But there’s always two sides to a story and I’m not here to blame anybody.”
At Chelsea he feels his role is more clearly defined and he is looking forward to the simplicity of working almost exclusively with technical advisor Petr Cech and director Marina Granovskaia.
“We have to accept that and you cannot control everything,” Tuchel said. “I am not the guy who thinks he can treat a player better than the physiotherapist, I am not the guy who thinks I can clean the boots better, or do the kit better or drive the bus better.
“I am the guy for the dressing room, for the tactics, to bring the players into the mood so they are competitive and I am very, very happy to leave everybody with their own responsibility and to do this in their own way.
“I love to work in a nice environment where it is possible to smile and to be friendly, and don’t confuse it with not being competitive and not being focused.”
In different times, his ideal day off would be to go for a walk, stopping perhaps at a cafe, and then head to a book store, read a little and have dinner.
Not that he is expecting a day off until 2022 at the earliest, he joked.
For now he is too busy trying to turn the Blues into a team he himself would like to watch.
“If I am a Chelsea fan I want to be excited when I go to the stadium, when I switch on the TV,” he said.
“I want to feel a certain level of energy, to feel a special bond between the players.
“I want to be entertained – that’s it.We want to give the guys a good time.”
I have principles. Your word is your word