In the collective, Tuchel trusts
By the time Mason Mount scored Chelsea’s second goal at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to set up an all-English Champions League final against Manchester City later this month, Real Madrid looked beaten. The 13-time European champions seemed like the footballing version of a groggy, ageing boxer finally accepting defeat after dodging blows from a younger upstart for most part of a long, gruelling bout.
Not many would have foreseen this when last January, Thomas Tuchel became Chelsea manager replacing club legend Frank Lampard. Chelsea were ninth in the Premier League and not only was Lampard struggling to get the best out of marquee signings that cost nearly $300 million, the team often paid for slipshod defending.
But since taking charge, Tuchel has tightened the screws at the back and got Chelsea to play some impressive football. Including the FA Cup, Chelsea are in two finals and fourth in the league.
Wednesday’s 2-0 win, which rounded off a 3-1 aggregate victory over Real Madrid, was emblematic of the Blues’ transformation under their new boss. Against the Los Blancos’ hallowed midfield comprising Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro, Chelsea were always going to come worse off in terms of possession. But Tuchel’s side thoroughly controlled the proceedings less than a third of the possession.
Chelsea managed to breach Real Madrid’s backline with surprising ease throughout the game, particularly in the second half. With Zinedine Zidane’s side heading into half-time behind on the night and on aggregate, Chelsea were expected to be on the defensive when the game resumed.
Instead, Real Madrid took a pummelling that will take them some time to forget. So toothless were Europe’s most decorated team on the night that even with the score at 2-1 on aggregate, Zidane’s side barely looked a threat to the Londoners. Perhaps the tight scheduling of the season was finally taking a toll on an ageing squad – six of their 11 starters on Wednesday are in their 30s, compared to three in the Chelsea XI.
“We can all be proud of the players, we gave it our best shot and we got here, to within one step of the final. Chelsea put in a great performance and you have to congratulate them,” said Zidane.
When Kroos was asked before the game whether Madrid feared any player from the London club, he had replied, “In my 15 years playing football, I never lost sleep.” Perhaps he was right. Chelsea may have some highly-rated individuals in the squad but none of them has had a particularly extraordinary season.
But as Mount said in response to the comment after the game, it is the collective unit of Chelsea that is giving nightmares to its opponents. “I saw one of their players say before that he doesn’t lose sleep over individuals,” Mount told CBS Sports.
“But as a team, they need to lose sleep over us as a team. We give so much, we defend for our lives. You saw that in not many chances that we gave away. We are solid and we need to keep that going.”
In 24 games under Tuchel, Chelsea have now lost just twice. The first, to West Brom in the Premier League, came after an early red card to Thiago Silva, and the second, to Porto in the Champions League quarter-final second leg, turned out to be inconsequential as Chelsea had already wrapped up the tie on aggregate by the time they conceded a late goal in a 0-1 loss.
Using a pragmatic approach and a system that doesn’t heavily rely on any particular individual has helped Tuchel get the best out of the side that had struggled for consistency under Lampard for the previous 18 months. The result is Mount has being more productive going forward, N’ Golo Kante re-establishing himself as one of Europe’s best midfielders—he played a part in both goals on Wednesday—and Timo Werner playing with panache after being lampooned for his poor form for most of the season.
“We had huge challenges in the Premier League and we came out of it very strong and showed our mentality and quality in all of these matches,” said Tuchel.
“So yes, we’ll arrive with self-confidence (in the final) in Istanbul; with no injuries, just the positive energy to win,” he said of the title clash against Pep Guardiola’s City. This will be Tuchel’ second Champions League final in two years.
The only headache for Tuchel is his side’s poor finishing. Chelsea have lacked a prolific goalscorer this season—Werner, with 12 goals across all competitions, is the joint-top scorer this season. Against Real Madrid over both legs, and against City in the FA Cup semi-final, it didn’t hurt Chelsea because of the way they managed to shut out the opposition. But with two finals coming up this month, they will need to be more clinical.
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