Frank Lampard has been sacked by Chelsea after just 18 months in charge of the club and will be replaced by Thomas Tuchel.
In the club’s statement, Chelsea said “results and performances have not met the club’s expectations, leaving the club mid-table without any clear path to sustained improvement”.
Frank said he was “disappointed not to have had the time this season to take the club forward and bring it to the next level”.
Tuchel will be the 13th different boss at Stamford Bridge since Roman Abramovic took over the Premier League club in 2003 and only time will tell if he is an unlucky or lucky number.
He will join Chelsea after a short period of unemployment, having been relieved of his duties at Paris Saint-Germain just before the new year.
Plans are underway to appoint him before the game against Wolves on Wednesday. Tuchel is not exempt from quarantine protocols, but the FA will allow him to attend Chelsea’s training ground and matches if he tests negative to fly into the UK and then tests negative to enter the team’s bubble.
WHO IS TUCHEL?
Born on August 29, 1973, Thomas Tuchel is a former footballer who lists Augsburg, Stuttgarter Kickers and SSV Ulm as clubs he played for as a defender but his career was short-lived as he retired at the early age of 25 due to chronic knee issues. This made him move quickly into taking a managerial role. He started off as a working as with Stuttgart’s youth team before taking over as manager of Augsburg’s second team
He has also served as head coach at Borussia Dortmund and PSG, among other clubs.
His first big break as a coach came in 2009 when he replaced Jurgen Klopp as manager of 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga and, six years later, he again replaced Klopp when he was appointed Dortmund boss in 2015.
His time with Dortmund earned him plenty of recognition across Europe as one of the brightest minds in coaching and he was hired as PSG head coach in 2018, spending two-and-a-half-years with the French outfit.
During his two-and-a-half-years at the French club, he managed 127 matches, winning 95 of those and losing just 19 overall – meaning he boasts a win percentage of 74.8 per cent from his time there.
With players such as Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe at his disposal, Tuchel made the PSG team a free-scoring side, with 337 goals scored across his tenure.
In all, Tuchel won six trophies at PSG, including two Ligue 1 titles, the Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and two Trophees des Champions not forgetting the fact that he led the team to their first Champions League final where they ultimately lost to Bayern Munich.
Nonetheless, Tuchel spent almost a similar amount of time as Dortmund’s head coach and, while he was unable to alter Bayern Munich’s dominance in the Bundesliga, his record was totally commendable.
He anchored Dortmund to victory in 67 out of 107 games, suffering 17 defeats during his spell, bring him to an overall win percentage of 62.6%.
In his two seasons at the German outfit, Tuchel won a single trophy – the DFB Pokal in 2017.
Throughout his career across the 3 clubs he has managed, Tuchel has a win percentage of 57% which looks fair for young manager who has had little exposure of what it is to be a manager.
CAN HE TURN THINGS AROUND AT CHELSEA?
Tuchel is often compared to Liverpool’s manager, Jurgen Klopp due to the fact that he has been hired as a direct replacement for him on two different occasions.
However, while there are indeed similarities, his football philosophy and personality are very much his own.
Tactically, Tuchel has made use of the sort of high press approach that became synonymous with Klopp’s ‘Heavy Metal Football’, but he is arguably a lot more pragmatic.
As well as making use of 4-3-3 at both Dortmund and PSG, Tuchel has also deployed the 3-5-2 formation (or 5-3-2, depending on defensive mentality), with wide forward play complemented by flying full-backs.
Man-marking is a trait of Tuchel teams, with highly energetic midfielders put to work in order quickly close down opponents, in turn, allowing the attackers more freedom to roam in the final third.
He is arguably much more academic and methodical in his preparations and has been given the nickname ‘The Professor’ for his meticulousness.
Indeed, Tuchel is headstrong and is not shy about expressing his views on a range of matters, including his relationships with those who hold the purse strings.
He could turn things around at the English club because the team has the quality needed for any manager to succeed. Tuchel would also be look forward to unite with former player, Thiago Silva to help with the command in defense but we all know the premier league is a different ball game.
We keep fingers crossed and wish the new manager luck.