TUCHEL SO WARY OF BRILLIANT BRUNO
THOMAS TUCHEL knows he could be in for his first really tough Premier League challenge as Chelsea boss when he faces a Bruno Fernandes-inspired Manchester United today.
Tuchel is a huge fan of the former Sporting Lisbon star and tried to sign him during his first year at Paris Saint-germain.
He said: “My first sporting director in Paris was Antero Henrique, who is Portuguese.
“He knew Bruno very, very well. He fought hard to have a connection to him and to bring him to our team because he was a big personality for Sporting – an effective goalscorer and an effective guy to make the other players around him more dangerous.
“The impact he has had since he arrived at Manchester
United is indescribable, unbelievable.
“Coming from Portugal, from a competitive team and big club without a doubt, but not from the strongest league, then stepping in here, at one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League, the strongest league in Europe, and to have this kind of impact…
“I have nothing but the biggest respect for this guy.
“He’s outstanding, one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. He has such a big influence on their game, on their attacking game. It’s a big key to defend against him, to be around him, to be close to him.
“He’s a key player of Man United in a way that is outstanding. It’s bad for us, huh, that we have to play against him?”
Fernandes, 26, has done as much as any United player to keep Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer in his job since arriving at Old
Trafford 13 months ago for
£47million.
Tuchel, who was sacked by PSG despite enjoying more success than Solskjaer has had, is full of admiration for the way United have backed their boss in good times and bad.
He is also impressed at how the Norwegian has earned the club’s trust. “I assume he works hard for it and creates on a daily basis an atmosphere everyone is happy with at Manchester United,” Tuchel said. The German’s aim at Chelsea – they are unbeaten in eight games since his arrival, with only two draws – is to earn the same trust at Stamford Bridge. He said: “This is the big challenge because we know very well we get judged on results.”