Thomas Tuchel’s mid-season appointment comes as no surprise at Stamford Bridge
When Frank Lampard began his second full season in charge of Chelsea FC, many supporters assumed that he would be allowed at least the full season to show signs of progress before the board sought a replacement.
However, given the massive expenditure that the club underwent this summer to bring in Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Thiago Silva, Ben Chillwell, and Edouard Mendy, time would always come at a premium. Given the massive inroads taken to improve a squad that sorely needed it, the pressure was always on from the start to get it right.
Early signs pointed towards Lampard eking the best out of the new arrivals, despite early injury troubles sidelining several key members of the squad. Following a 2-0 defeat at home to Liverpool in late September, Lampard & Co. went on a 17-match unbeaten run that ended with a careless loss away to Everton after a rash challenge from Mendy saw Calvert-Lewin draw the winning penalty. The run included a few too many draws to spark definitive conversations of change, with evident cracks plaguing the side. Some included an inconsistent approach to pressing that left the forward and midfield lines miles away from the back four, and a sometimes listless approach to attacking play with little tactical instruction apparent on viewing. Social media critics labelled the Lampard team’s tendency to channel its attack through its fullbacks’ crossing “inshallah and vibes,” while others focussed on his inability to get the most out of the two German youngsters signed for massive fees.
Alarmingly, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz struggled with form despite being touted as veritable gamechangers. The former suffered through several stretches of games played out of position on the left wing, where his poor first touch was scrutinized by every armchair pundit around, while the latter suffered through a debilitating bout of COVID only to have his performances upon his return be labelled as sluggish. Little attention was paid to the fact that the two players had been thrust into a foreign country in a league whose physicality and pace definitely trumped the Bundesliga’s during a time in which a global pandemic had thrust a general malaise upon the entire world. Where other club’s new signings were given leeway to get their feet firmly planted on the ground in the past, Werner and Havertz were given no time to adjust before being subject to criticism. At 24 years-old, Werner can perhaps be said to have less leash to run away with than Havertz when talking about freedom to acclimatize. However, one must consider that the former Leipzig man was being played predominantly out of position by Lampard who insisted on slotting the pacey Stuttgart-native on the left-wing, while ostracizing natural left-winger Callum Hudson-Odoi in the process. Sticking Werner on the wing may have given Lampard leeway to incorporate Olivier Giroud or Tammy Abraham into the side as strikers, but their inclusion was rarely a revelation and only served to worsen Werner’s confidence as he dove further into a goalless drought that has seen him go 13 playing hours without making the net bulge.
In the end, it came to light that the board’s patience for Lampard’s learning curve was never one that would stretch to the end of the season. Sources close to the club instead revealed that head honchos like Marina Granovskaia were simply waiting for a poor run of 4-5 matches from the former Chelsea legend to have him sacked. There was a sentiment from the pragmatic board that Lampard had only been hired to assuage possible tension amongst supporters in the wake of Eden Hazard’s departure for Real Madrid and the strain that a multi-window transfer ban would bring. It was considered to be a shrewd decision to bring in the inexperienced former Chelsea man, as his affinity with the academy led to several youngster being brought through the ranks. In the end, it was only surviving the battle for the fourth and final Champions League-qualifying position that saved Lampard last season.
After a miserable stretch of form punctuated by a listless loss away to Leicester, the decision to sack Lampard was made, but only enacted after a win at home to Luton Town in the FA Cup after some troubles in negotiating his replacement’s contract.
The replacement in question was Thomas Tuchel, the German manager who had been sacked by Paris Saint-Germain on Christmas Day. Having joined the illustrious French side in 2018 and just taken the club to a Champions League final where they narrowly lost to Bayern Munich, Tuchel’s sacking came as a bit of a surprise to the wider footballing world. However, reports emerged of the relationship between Tuchel and sporting director, Leonardo, fraying as the manager took issue with the amount of players lost to free transfer.
It is perhaps fitting that the German’s appointment at Chelsea sees him reunited with one of those losses in newly signed central defender, Thiago Silva. Thus far in his managerial tenure in West London, Tuchel has certainly impressed. With his announcement as manager coming a day before Chelsea faced off against Wovlerhampton at home, Tuchel immediately shored up what had been a leaky defence under Lampard, reinstating the famous three at the back formation that Antonio Conte had rode to such success in his Chelsea tenure. Opting for experience in his player selection, Tuchel slid past Wolverhampton and Burnley with a draw and win respectively, dominating possession and allowing zero shots on target in the process. His first win away from home came in a massive London derby away to Tottenham, where the Blues claimed all three points on a wet and cold Thursday night.
What Tuchel has seemed happy to do is show a bit of pragmatism where Lampard often flouted it in favour of a leaky four at the back system. Tuchel has instead opted to favour his squad’s strengths, while also not being afraid to leave big names like Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech to come off the bench. Although chances haven’t cropped up in spades, they are doing so with more regularity and purposeful thought than they had under Lampard’s tutelage.
With his side now only four points behind fourth-placed Liverpool with an equal amount of games played, Tuchel’s Blues are sitting pretty. It can only be expected that his continued presence at Stamford Bridge next year will depend on his ability to ensure that Chelsea finishes amongst the Champions League qualifying spots. Based off the small sample size thus far, that goal doesn’t seem out of reach.