TUCHEL HAS TWEAK SPOT
Impressive new Tinkerman needs goals
ANOTHER round of changes for Chelsea’s new Tinkerman and also some more impressive numbers. With this draw at Leeds, Thomas Tuchel boasts the joint-longest unbeaten start (12 games) of any Chelsea manager. In his ten league games, they have shipped just two goals. No manager in Premier League history has conceded fewer.
All the while, Tuchel has made 39 tweaks to his team — more than any other boss.
Rotation has always been the German’s way but, during this breathless season when training is severely limited, it’s incredible how Tuchel’s principles have already been absorbed by his squad.
‘Obviously there was no time to lose and it is praise for the players and their achievement to adapt and to step up so quickly,’ said Tuchel.
‘We need more than ten or 11 players we trust and we cannot only talk about trust — we have to show them.’
Chelsea are now more solid and savvy under the stewardship of the former Paris Saint-Germain boss.
Five consecutive clean sheets have come despite changes in personnel — and formation.
Now their top-four hopes rest on Tuchel’s ability to find similar joy at the other end of the pitch.
After ten games and 12 goals, Frank Lampard’s successor has tried eight different attackers, three different systems and eight different combinations.
Still, nothing quite clicks. Against Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday, Kai Havertz played as a false nine once more. Again, the 21-year-old showed plenty of skill and plenty of clever movement, yet his last league goal was in October.
‘We don’t score enough,’ the 21-year-old German forward admitted afterwards.
‘We are not clinical enough in front of goal. We had good chances at Leeds — I had two myself. It’s not easy to score in this league but we have to keep going.’
His attempts to settle in England haven’t been helped by injury and a bad bout of coronavirus. Not that Havertz is looking for excuses.
‘Corona is now over. I feel good, it’s now time to play good. I have to improve,’ he said. ‘It has been difficult… I hope that I will see my family soon.’
And how is he finding his new home?
‘I haven’t seen much of the country or the city of London,’ he added. ‘Every day, I just go to training and then I come back and spend the whole day at home.’
It’s not been much rosier at Stamford Bridge for Timo Werner, who has scored just one league goal since November.
The 25-year-old still looks like a shadow of his former Bundesliga self.
Perhaps it is little wonder that Chelsea, who spent £180million on attackers last summer, are eyeing Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund to bolster their frontline.
‘We have guys here that we are happy with, who have the potential to be more decisive,’ Tuchel insisted.
‘There is no need now to reflect for the summer or for other solutions.’
But the main issue, for an analytical man like Tuchel, is how effectively the art of scoring goals can be coached back into his players.
‘I truly believe that the best strikers were always strikers and it’s not so much about the coaches they had, it’s just in their blood,’ he said.