As promised, the banner wielding the message ‘In Frank We Trust’ was still on display at Stamford Bridge for Thomas Tuchel’s first game as Chelsea manager against Wolves.
It spoke of the mission the German now faces to win over a section of the Blues’ faithful, a task in which unlike his predecessor, he is not guaranteed to succeed despite ostensibly boasting more tactical awareness and undoubtedly having much greater experience.
Tuchel wasted no time in flexing those muscles. Out with Mason Mount, who had been handed the captain’s armband in what proved to be Lampard’s final game in charge. In with a new three-man defence and a hark back to the days of Antonio Conte and his roaming full-backs.
Perhaps it is unfair to compare the incoming Chelsea boss to any of Roman Abramovich’s past managers. Tuchel is his own man, and a headstrong one at that, who fell out with sporting director Leonardo before leaving Paris Saint-Germain in December.
It makes for fascinating theatre, at any rate, to see how he will engulf himself in the politics of the boardroom at the Bridge.
On the pitch, at least, he gave some indication of what we can expect from his reign.
A ruthless team selection
Mount was not the only casualty of Tuchel’s desire to make absolutely clear that any favouritism from the Lampard tenure ended earlier this week with the Englishman’s departure.
Tuchel is Chelsea’s first German manager, but he showed no nepotism to one of his compatriots. Timo Werner was also left out of the starting XI, a price to pay for a run of 11 Premier League matches without a goal. Olivier Giroud began up front on his own, with Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz playing behind him.
Chilwell and Hudson-Odoi impress
Ben Chilwell looked bewildered when he was replaced by Christian Pulisic in the 76th minute, a fair reflection given that he had posed Chelsea’s greatest threat. Callum Hudson-Odoi’s move into a right wing-back role was also an inspired one as his familiarity with the final third saw him generate two key passes and one shot on target.
Havertz and Ziyech must do more
Wolves were compact in the middle of the pitch, forcing Chelsea out wide. That suited them just fine, but Ziyech and Havertz frequently found themselves running into channels which weren’t there.
The duo were combatted with ease, Havertz still not playing in his preferred position as a number 10. That may change, as the experiment with Christian Pulisic on the right hinted that Tuchel is open to tweaking his tactical approach in the coming weeks.
Lots of possession
Pep Guardiola’s gripe with the term ‘tiki-taka’, while supposedly a compliment, is the apparent “passing for the sake of it”. Chelsea registered more first-half passes than any team in any Premier League game this season, but few of them were particularly searching.
A more clinical opponent would have scored
A year ago, Wolves might have represented a nightmare start for any new manager. As it is, Nuno Esperito Santo’s side remain dull in front of goal, in the most practical sense of the word. Pedro Neto mustered one of the best chances to win the game for the visitors, chipping Edouard Mendy but putting his shot over the bar.
Tuchel can be satisfied with a point on a night where it was more important to learn than to win, a little over 24 hours since he was appointed.
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