German can Holt the slide

PAST: Tuchel and Holtby

BLACKBURN midfielder Lewis Holtby has first-hand experience of the skills that Thomas Tuchel will bring to the Premier League.

The former Spurs man had a season under the German at Mainz while on loan from Schalke in the 2010-11 campaign.

And he believes Chelsea have the right man to turn them from under-achievers to title contenders once again.

Holtby, 30, said: “He had a philosophy, he had young players, older players – he got the best out of everyone.

“He got cheap players, players no one knew or older players thinking that this would be the last move of their career.

“Even with these players, everyone mixed up so well.

“They bonded in the dressing room, the training intensity, the fire in the dressing room, he created that.

“He made Mainz into a club that sold on players for a lot of money, he transformed them into a completely different club.”

During Tuchel’s time in charge, Mainz routinely dished out bloody noses to Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund – clubs whose budgets were giant-sized in comparison.

“They were new to the Bundesliga but in the period he was there they qualified twice for Europe with a low-budget team,” added Holtby.

“Mainz were a very small but very happy club – every match was like a carnival. They played exciting football, they became a figure on the German football map.

“Every team that faced Mainz didn’t see them as a small team any more, they saw them as a dangerous, energetic team that played high-intensity football.”