When Thomas Tuchel first joined up with a struggling Chelsea squad, he vowed to make them into a team that no one enjoyed playing against. Given their dire form at the time, most probably wrote off this task as one that would have to wait until the following season when Tuchel had come to grips with the rollercoaster nature of Premier League life.
However, the rangy German has proved himself to be a paragon of his homeland’s touted efficiency in restoring Chelsea to something approaching their former glory. The uptick in results has involved welcoming outcasts under Lampard like Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, and Cesar Azpilicueta back in from the cold to great effect. The injection of each of those three’s proliferate experience has helped shore the lines up and culminated in a win to take them into the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2014.
The round of sixteen victory against Athletico Madrid saw Tuchel cement himself in the West London record books. The resounding 2-0 home win against the La Liga leaders saw Tuchel pass Luiz Felipe Scolari as having the longest unbeaten streak to start off a managerial reign at Chelsea with a run of 13.
Gushing about the unbeaten run should come with tempering some of the optimism that the near two-months without a loss has inspired. Yes, Tuchel’s shift to a three at the back has got the best out of players like Andreas Christensen, who having struggled early on, has since resembled a Danish Paolo Maldini in Thiago Silva’s extended absence. It has also resulted in an incredibly resolute defence that has only conceded two goals in all competitions. While Leeds tested the integrity of the crossbar during their scoreless draw with Chelsea at Elland Road, few teams have looked like scoring against Chelsea since this change in formation. If this solidity is still present next season, Jose Mourinho might worry that his record of only 15 goals conceded in the 2004-2005 season could be under threat.
However, the defensive solidity has hardly yielded free-flowing creativity at the opposing end of the pitch. Despite possession being forthcoming, gilt-edged chances have been less so.
Part of this offensive woefulness could be down to Tuchel’s incessant tinkering. While his backline and midfield pivot of Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante have largely been unchanged throughout the unbeaten run, the same can’t be said for the front three. One explanation for this chopping and changing is Tuchel’s desire to give everyone a fair chance at making an impression. This desire saw Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud get a decent amount of chances to impress to no avail.
There are signs that things are beginning to click, or at least that individual players who have struggled for form (possibly for lack of game time) are enjoying the opportunity to play themselves into some. One such player that has found a glimmer of hope in recent matches has been Hakim Ziyech. The Morrocan international was announced to much fanfare last February. For the paltry sum of around 40 million pounds (pennies for first-team quality in this inflated market), Chelsea were said to be bringing a player that Ajax supporters dubbed a “wizard” into their ranks. If Ziyech was magical, his left foot was his wand given the amount of assists he had been conjuring with it in his four years with the Dutch side. It was expected that he’d inject some sorely needed creativity, to a side that struggled for it. There were concerns raised about whether Ziyech’s slender frame was suited for the physicality of the English domestic league, but the Moroccan shrugged them off himself, pointing to Algerian Riyad Mahrez as a player of similar build finding success in the Premier League.
A pre-season injury away to Brighton meant that Ziyech had to wait for his chance to set the world alight. After a slow return back to fitness, Ziyech impressed away to a burly Burnley side that perhaps quieted fears he wasn’t cut out for the size of players in England. But, further injuries meant he has struggled for form. Few players needed a goal as badly as he did against Athletico, but perhaps it was telling that he rose to the occasion with a brilliant one.
If Ziyech can find his feet, with Timo Werner and Kai Havertz also looking to be edging back to their scary best, Tuchel could have Chelsea challenging on all fronts next season, not just domestically.