Enter the uber-nerd: Thomas Tuchel's rise to the top of football management
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.
Much praise has been lavished on the Chelsea bounceback since Thomas Tuchel arrived to replace local hero Frank Lampard but, as Oscar Wilde remarked, the truth is rarely pure and never simple.
Yes, Chelsea have qualified for the Champions League again and there is a certain black humour to it being provided courtesy of Tottenham but this achievement obscures some lamentable outcomes during the 19 games the Bavarian has been in charge.
While there have been narrow but impressive wins against all the best sides, there have been worrying failures to despatch the also-rans and the out-of-formers . . . Brighton, Leeds, Wolves, West Brom, Arsenal, Aston Villa. The overall performance in the FA Cup Final against a limited, one-shot Leicester side was also disappointing, all the more so because the new manager appeared to misjudge his team selection.
While Tuchel, who has been in pragmatic mode with his tactics and his public statements since his arrival on January 26, points to “mission accomplished” (although he had the grace to acknowledge that the team has been highly fortuitous) he will be in no doubt that this will not do next season whatever the result from Porto this weekend.
Winning the Champions League (and the FA Cup) did not save Roberto Di Matteo, and it won’t help him if he can’t outthink the likes of Graham Potter and Dean Smith.
Usefully for statisticians, Tuchel and his predecessor shared precisely half a season each in the Premier League. Both managed 19 games. Tuchel extracted a possible 38 points from 57 while Lampard’s team delivered 29. Lampard’s team scored more goals per game, Tuchel’s side conceded fewer.
Although the general narrative is that “Tuchel turned Chelsea around” because the Blues were in 9th position when he took over, the gap between 9th and 4th in January was five points. Both Liverpool and Manchester City demonstrated that short work can be made of such matters.
A principal accusation against Lampard was that he froze out some players, but the same can be said of Tuchel’s treatment of Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and the loyal Olivier Giroud. Whether his reductionist approach will earn him football’s top prize and the chance to make some tweaks to the team for next season so that it more resembles his preferred style of play is one of the more interesting questions for the summer break.
All of Tuchel’s previous managerial roles ― Mainz, Dortmund, and PSG ― have ended in tears following conflicts with management. His Dortmund owner said that he and Tuchel differed over their understanding of the word “respect” while in Paris he picked an unwinnable fight with the powerful director of football, Leonardo, and was unceremoniously sacked last Christmas Eve.
At Stamford Bridge, he has been keen to declare his happiness and his willingness to take a collegiate approach to transfer activity, something which proved beyond the patience of both Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho during their tenures. Tuchel has already laughed off his prowess in the transfer market telling journalists: "Imagine the worst person on the phone you know, double it and then you land me, I'm the worst guy on earth on the phone."
A closer examination of the business Tuchel has done in the past indicates a certain disingenuousness in this comment but while it is unusual for coaches to declare they have found a nirvana at Stamford Bridge, it is clear that Tuchel recognises there is a good opportunity if he can keep his impetuous nature under control. And learn the art of managing upwards.
Hence the continuous encouragement of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, €120m of investment; the difficult balancing act he has attempted with his goalkeepers; the rehabilitation of Tony Rudiger, thought to be lead member of the awkward squad during the last days of Lampard; his declaration that he is happy to work with whichever roster of players he is given.
If Tuchel gets his contract extension then we may see a very different Chelsea next season, one which will give him less cause to wave his arms around in pantomime rage on the touchline at yet another missed goalmouth opportunity. But without structural and personnel change it is difficult to see the Blues progressing much beyond their current level, which is third or fourth.
Saturday night’s clash will bring together, for the third time this season, Guardiola and the most Guardiola-like of the modern German coaches whose ranks include Tuchel, Jurgen Klopp, the new Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann, Ralph Hasenhüttl, and the source of much of their group think, the founding father of Gegenpressing, Ralf Rangnick.
In the strange dynasty that is the Bundesliga, Ragnick gave Tuchel his first chance to coach at Ulm after his career as a central defender was finished by a cartilage injury. Tuchel financed his degree in economic studies, a subject he hated, by working at a legendary Stuttgart nightclub, the RadioBar. Tuchel went on to follow Jurgen Klopp at Mainz and Dortmund. Tuchel gave Julian Nagelsmann his first backroom job as a scout and was once tipped to follow Guardiola at Bayern, a role now filled by Nagelsmann himself.
Tuchel is a Bavarian, from Mittelschwaben, some 120 km from Munich. He has given his verdict on Chelsea’s last Champions League-winning campaign which culminated with a win on penalties in the Bayern stronghold at the Allianz Arena where fans unveiled a giant mural before the game in 2012.
“Unser Stadt. Unser Stadion. Unser Pokal,” it stated. “Our City. Our Stadium. Our Cup.”
Tuchel, who watched that game at home on TV, said the English triumph “felt like a burglary.” In 2021, as in 2012, the overwhelming sentiment is that Chelsea are only there to make up the numbers and their opposition are overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy.
Saturday night offers the man with a point to prove the opportunity to demonstrate that he can also do a similarly accomplished smash and grab. And create his own history.
Age 47.
Married with two daughters, Emma and Kim.
His wife of 12 years, Sissi, has a background in publishing having worked for Suddeutsche Zeitung, a large Munich-based daily paper.
He describes himself as “an imperfect vegetarian” and consumes minimal alcohol.
He likes crime thrillers, tennis, German hip hop music, and architecture and design.
He has also done fashion shoots for European and US magazines.
He is a graduate of the University of Stuttgart with a degree in Business Administration.
Arno Michels, assistant (53): Has been with Tuchels at all clubs since Mainz in 2009.
Benjamin Weber, video analyst (38): Tuchels inherited him from Jurgen Klopp at Mainz. They have been together ever since.
Zsost Low, coach (42): Hungarian. Worked with Tuchel at PSG. Former assistant to Ralf Rangnick at RB Leipzig.
Rainer Schrey (62): Nails-hard fitness coach who has worked with Tuchel since Mainz.
Philipp Schelb, Special advisor. A fellow Bavarian. Ostensibly deals with logistics but frequently on hand when Tuchel’s fuse appears to be running short, something not yet witnessed in his Chelsea career.
Olaf Meinking: Media lawyer, sports and music agent, and Tuchel confidante.
This is not the first time that Chelsea and Manchester City have met in European competition. And 50 years ago it was the Londoners who came out on top.
Manchester City were the defending holders of the European Cup Winners Cup, a trophy they had lifted under the direction of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison in 1970 by beating Gornik Zabrze of Poland 2-1. That same night Chelsea had defeated Leeds United in an FA Cup Final replay at Old Trafford, an encounter so thunderous that it remains one of the iconic games of British soccer history. This meant that two English clubs would contest the same continental trophy the following year.
The draw brought City together with Chelsea 12 months later. In April 1971 in a semi-final over two legs. City had already won 3-0 in an FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge in January with a consummate performance from Colin Bell ― “Nijinsky” ― who scored two goals and dictated the match.
Then, as now, City were favourites to go through. Chelsea had reached the semis by overcoming a 2-0 deficit against Club Bruges the month before with a 4-0 victory. And they ran out first leg winners against City courtesy of a solitary goal from South African Derek Smethurst who only played 19 times in three seasons for the Londoners. On this occasion, he was standing in for the injured Peter Osgood and his shot past Joe Corrigan was set up with a header from David Webb who was pressed into emergency striker duties by manager Dave Sexton.
In the return leg, two weeks later on April 28, City had to win if they were to reach their second consecutive European final and 44,000 fans turned up at Maine Road to cheer them on. But an own goal from stand-in goalkeeper Ron Healy who fumbled a Keith Weller cross ensured that it was the West Londoners who went on to meet Real Madrid in the Athens decider.
*Man City have never beaten domestic rivals in European competition. Previous encounters with Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea have all ended in elimination.
*City are the ninth English club to appear in a European Cup final, more than any other country.
*City and Chelsea have both conceded just four goals en route to this final, the lowest total for the two finalists since 2006.
*Neither side have conceded more than once in a Champions League game in 2020/21.
*Mason Mount's goal in the semi-final second leg was Chelsea's 300th in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final.
*Chelsea are the first club since Everton in 1910/11 to finish in the top four in the English top flight despite no player reaching double figures for league goals.
*Man City could become the 23rd side to win the European Cup, and the first new name on the trophy since Chelsea's 2012 triumph.
*Pep Guardiola, a winner with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, could become the sixth coach to win the European Cup with two different clubs.
*City keeper Zach Steffen or Chelsea's Christian Pulisic could become the first American to appear in a European Cup final.
