Thomas Tuchel will be expected to get Chelsea’s faltering top-four challenge back on track after assuming the reigns from Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge.
The 47-year-old was appointed on an 18-month contract on Monday, less than a month after being sacked by Paris Saint-Germain following an indifferent start to the Ligue 1 season.
Although Tuchel’s spell at PSG ended in acrimonious circumstances, he enjoyed a broadly successful two-and-a-half-years in charge, winning back-to-back Ligue 1 titles and four domestic cups before taking the club to a maiden Champions League final in August.
While there isn’t a huge amount that can be learned from a PSG manager winning French titles given the financial disparity which exists in Ligue 1, Tuchel is recognised as one of the finest tactical minds of his generation, a reputation forged during stints with Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund.
Unlike previous Chelsea managers like Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri, Tuchel is not devoted to a set formation and instead adopts a system or systems that best suit the players in his squad. He tended to employ a 4-4-2 diamond shape at Mainz before utilising a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 hybrid at Borussia Dortmund, while he often used a 4-2-2-2 at PSG.
A key remit that Tuchel will be judged upon at Stamford Bridge is maximising the potential of Chelsea’s youthful, ex-Bundesliga attackers Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic alongside summer signing from Ajax, Hakim Ziyech. Early on, at least, Tuchel may look to set his side up in a 4-2-3-1 system to accommodate the club’s array of exciting talent at the top end of the pitch.
Goalkeeper and defence
Goalkeeper proved to be a problem position for Lampard with Kepa Arrizabalaga struggling badly for form and Edouard Mendy faltering recently following an impressive start. Tuchel may stick with Mendy initially, but given the club spent a world-record £71.6m to sign Kepa in 2018, there may be some hope that a new manager can resurrect his fortunes eventually.
A centre-back combination comprising of Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger seems likely given Tuchel was unhappy with PSG for allowing the former to leave last summer and made a request for the latter to be signed as a replacement. Rudiger has started only four Premier League games this season but could well find himself back in favour under new management.
Tuchel likes dynamic full backs who can stretch the play but also have the technique to drift into central zones in midfield, which means Lampard’s first-choice pairing of Ben Chilwell on the left and Reece James on the right are likely to retain their places.
Midfield
Tuchel attempted to sign Jorginho during his PSG tenure and the likely two-man central midfield shape means that the new Chelsea manager is expected to turn to the Italian to provide passing quality deep in midfield. Jorginho has not been universally popular with the club’s supporters since joining from Napoli in 2018, partly due to his association with “Sarri-ball”, but the 29-year-old’s passing quality is something that is likely to be required to feed Chelsea’s attacking players. Jorginho will be partnered by either Mateo Kovacic or N’Golo Kante in midfield, with the latter’s recent poor form giving the Croatian the edge in the short-term.
It is in attacking midfield where Tuchel has an abundance of options, but the club ownership’s preference for seeing the big signings settle means that Ziyech and Pulisic either side of Havertz is the most logical attacking midfield three.
Havertz excelled in a floating No 10 role at Bayer Leverkusen, while Ziyech and Pulisic offer a balance of threats out wide, with both also happy to drift into central creative areas, allowing Tuchel the possibility of developing quite a fluid attacking shape.
Pulisic in particular has been one of the brighter sparks of the campaign so far for Chelsea, and the incoming manager also has a strong relationship with the American following their time together at Dortmund.
Two of the more exciting home-grown talents in Chelsea’s squad are notable by their absence in that selection, but Mason Mount is a clear alternative to Havertz in the central role and Callum Hudson-Odoi would be competition for Ziyech and Pulisic. With such a congested fixture calendar it’s likely that both will still pick up lots of playing time even if they are not in Tuchel’s ideal XI straight away.
Striker
Chelsea’s array of attacking midfield talent means Tuchel is highly likely to opt for a one-striker system.
Star summer signing Timo Werner is the clear option for that role, despite a disappointing start to his Chelsea career – prolific in Germany, he has just four league goals in 19 appearances for his new club. Werner’s tendency to drift deeper and into wide positions also makes him well-suited to the positionally-flexible role that the three players behind him will likely expect from their centre-forward.
One option for Tuchel could be to play the two big summer signings closer to each other. Havertz often operated as a false-nine at Leverkusen, giving Chelsea the option of effectively playing a front-two of Werner and Havertz.
The in-form Olivier Giroud offers an alternative of a more traditional focal point to the attack, something that the new manager may particularly look to utilise early on in his tenure. And Tammy Abraham also offers an interesting option as the central striker, potentially with Werner moving into a wide-forward role in place of Ziyech or deeper in place of Havertz.
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