Tuchel leads from the front as Chelsea focus on the controllables
Chelsea's Mason Mount and manager Thomas Tuchel after the Emirates FA Cup quarter final match at the Riverside Stadium.
AS an expert in crisis management, Thomas Tuchel has passed every test with flying colours in the three weeks since Russia’s horrific invasion of Ukraine threw his professional world into turmoil.
Here, at the Riverside on Saturday, was the latest example in the German coach managing to combine doing - and saying - the right things while balancing the more prosaic matter of managing a football team.
Since his soon to be former owner Roman Abramovich came into the spotlight for his links with the Russian state and war machine, Tuchel has led his team to six wins and a draw, which ended in his only defeat via a Carabao Cup Final penalty shoot-out to Liverpool.
More pertinently, since Abramovich was placed under sanctions by the UK government, a little over ten days ago, Tuchel has won four games, in three different competitions, with three of them coming in away fixtures.
If Tuchel had a wish for the coming two-week international break, one would hope - and expect, given his recent pronouncements - that it would be for world peace.
In football terms, however, his response to that question was far more simple.
“Very easy: holiday for the players that have the chance; that they recharge and disconnect from football because they deserve it,” said Tuchel.
“And it is also very important that they take this possibility to come with a fresh mindset for the last eight weeks of the season.
“And the guys who go for international duties I hope they have the success they want and they come back not injured.” Such is the balancing act Tuchel has had to maintain between his club's links with the horrors unfolding in Eastern Europe and the more mundane, if still challenging, matter of running a football club on a day to day footing.
Friday saw the deadline for bids for interested parties to declare themselves and the process to begin in the sale of Chelsea. Not surprisingly, it is a sale which Tuchel wants to see completed as quickly as possible.
“I know about the timescale but I don’t know anything about the offers,” he said. “I don’t know how many offers, if they are serious or who they are from.
“I am not so much interested in the details of the process. I know the guidelines of the process. This is enough for me. When it gets crucial and decisive then it is enough that I know it.
“You know as much as me. I maybe know a few hours before. The offers are in now and the board tries to find a decision with the government as soon as possible.”
Still, in the context of the unprecedented events that have threatened to engulf Chelsea in recent weeks, the on-field response has been impressive.
“Yes, they showed a very impressive attitude and spirit,” he said of Saturday's display. “This is exactly what we want and demand. They have huge talent and with huge talent comes huge responsibility. And now, they do it also for the fans and the people at Chelsea who are not in the spotlight. They do it also for themselves. They do it as a team because this is what they signed up for. They are a special group of players, in a very special and ambitious club. This is sometimes what life demands from you and that’s special things.”
Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech, two players fighting to become automatic first-choice selections currently, scored the first half goals that made this such a comfortable quarter-final victory. But, even allowing for the relatively modest opposition, there were outstanding performances around the field from Chelsea players who, like their manager, have been able to remain professional and compartmentalise the off-field issues from their daily jobs.
“The players have impressed me but not surprised me,” said Tuchel. “At one point, we needed to accept we didn't cause the situation, we can't influence the situation, and we can't change the situation. We had to find a certain level of accepting the situation and refocusing on what we can influence.
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