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Tag: Tuchel

  • Tuchel admits Lukaku not yet ‘connecting’ with teammates

    Tuchel admits Lukaku not yet ‘connecting’ with teammates

    Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel admits Romelu Lukaku is yet to fully “connect” with his teammates on the pitch.

    Speaking ahead of their clash with Southampton, Tuchel has suggested that Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic are the only team-mates that have been effectively linking up with him.

    Asked if Lukaku looking isolated was to do with him still adjusting to new surroundings, Tuchel said: “Yes and no. He was fully involved in the first game against Arsenal, the second half against Tottenham he was involved in creating chances for Timo Werner, Mason in the first half.

    “I think that football right now is about connections, Romelu I feel has a strong connection with Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic.

    “They look for each other and have an understanding, everybody else maybe lacks it a bit so they need to learn and understand and adapt, create better of course.”

    The German boss continued: “Like I said, we have games where he was fully involved but now we have games like against Manchester City where of course he was isolated, City made him that, our transition did that as well. There will always be matches like this. There is no place to go.

    “Sometimes you have these games so maybe this one is not a reference game. We will talk maybe totally different if he had scored in the 80th minute [against Juventus] which was a chance he normally scores.

    “It is right but nothing major to worry about. We are aware of it.”

  • Tuchel not getting best from Lukaku – Conte

    Tuchel not getting best from Lukaku – Conte

    Former Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte says Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel isn’t playing to Romelu Lukaku’s strengths.

    Conte was speaking before Chelsea’s Champions League defeat last night at Juventus.

    “A coach is good if he can improve players. I think we did great work with Romelu over two years,” Conte told Sky Italia.

    “He is a very specific striker. Bringing Lukaku into the box, he is dangerous. However, when he starts from midfield, he is incredibly quick. It is very difficult to find a player who is both a target man, but can also run from midfield.

    “These are also characteristics I can see in Erling Haaland. I had been tracking Lukaku for a very long time and wanted him when I was at Chelsea, even when he was at West Brom.”

    Conte continued: “It’s a tactical situation too, a centre-forward who goes looking for the opposition defender, backs into him and lays it off for whoever is supporting him. That is a tactical approach used in basketball as well.

    “The good thing about Romelu is that he can hurt you anywhere. If you keep him far away from the penalty area, he can kill you with his pace. If you have him in the box, he has the physicality to be a target man.”

    Conte also stated: “I think he can still do better, above all with his technique. He is already at a very high level, but a player must keep improving until the day he retires.

    “During the game, there are moments when Lukaku needs to be turned on, but other than that he is one of the toughest forwards to play against, because he can do damage in any area of the pitch. If you have a centre-forward like that, you need to use him and I don’t think Chelsea have quite figured out how to use him yet.

    “Last season, they didn’t have a proper centre-forward, so they rotated positions, whereas Romelu is a real reference point in attack. If they can figure out how to use Lukaku, then Chelsea can become the team to beat in the Champions League this season.”

  • Tuchel responds to Kante’s positive test: Giving vaccine advice not my job

    Tuchel responds to Kante’s positive test: Giving vaccine advice not my job

    Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has insisted he is in no position to urge anyone to receive coronavirus vaccinations.

    Midfielder N’Golo Kante has tested positive for COVID-19 and entered self-isolation, meaning he will miss Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League clash at Juventus on Wednesday.

    Tuchel admitted he does not know the percentage of his Chelsea players who have been vaccinated, and insisted he is in no place to make public recommendations about vaccinations.

    “N’Golo unfortunately tested positive, and needs to have time and follow the Government protocols,” said Tuchel.

    “He was not in training today (Tuesday) and of course was not with the group. I don’t know the percentage of players vaccinated actually. It’s not even that I don’t want to tell you but I simply don’t know it.

    “And we are also only a reflection of society, the players are adults and it’s free choice if they want to get vaccinated or not. And I think we should accept it.”

    He pointed out that he could make the decision for himself, but everybody else needed to reflect about it and decide to take a risk or not to.

    “I think it’s a serious question and vaccination seems to be a proper protection. I am vaccinated, I took the decision for myself. But I don’t really see myself in a position to speak out proper recommendations, I think that would go too far.

    “I’m a football coach, I’m not a 100 per cent expert in this and I will leave it up to them. And everybody is adult enough and everybody lives in a free country and a free society, which is a good thing. So, people can make their choices.

    “Of course we take actions and then are responsible for them, and we don’t like to lose players. But we are not now angry with N’Golo. Of course not. We are concerned about him and worried about him, as we are with any injured players who get a kick in a game.”

    Chelsea must take on Juventus in Turin without Kante, and also the injured Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and Reece James.

    Mount has lost his battle to shake off a knock in time for the trip to Italy, while James will be out for at least another week with ankle trouble.

  • What I expect from Man City clash – Tuchel

    What I expect from Man City clash – Tuchel

    Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel, has revealed that he expects a ’50/50′ match when his side clashes with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

    Tuchel said this on Friday during his pre-match press conference.

    The German explained that he also expected Chelsea to suffer against the Premier League champions at Stamford Bridge.

    Chelsea head to the game after beating Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, while Man City defeated Wycombe.

    Tuchel said, “I expect nothing less than a 50/50 match tomorrow. We want to fight to have a better outcome.

    “We have done it a few times, but we know how much we suffered in those matches, and we will have to do that tomorrow.”

    The kick-off time for Chelsea vs Man City is 12.30 pm.

  • Tuchel half-time talk inspired Tottenham win – Azpilicueta

    Tuchel half-time talk inspired Tottenham win – Azpilicueta

    Cesar Azpilicueta says Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel inspired their win over Tottenham.

    The Blues were lacklustre in the first half, with Spurs having the better of the chances in the derby clash on Sunday.

    However, Chelsea came out of the blocks in the second half, flying on all cylinders.

    They picked up a comfortable 3-0 win to take all three points from the contest.

    “He [Tuchel] was not happy, we were not happy with our performance,” the Chelsea captain told Sky Sports.

    “Even though we were able to arrive around the box we did not shoot on target, they created a few chances where we could have conceded.

    “Even in duels we were not as good as we usually are. We were sometimes too open and it was something that we had to address.

    “Playing like this, we couldn’t expect to win the game. The best thing we could do was to arrive at half-time at 0-0.

    “The reaction was good, everyone is humble enough to accept this and go again and give a strong second half.”

  • I thought Kane was joining Man City – Tuchel

    I thought Kane was joining Man City – Tuchel

    Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel admits he expected Tottenham striker Harry Kane to join Manchester City.

    Chelsea were also linked with Kane over the summer.

    But Tuchel said: “We never had a list with his name on it.

    “I also never went to the management and said ‘buy him’. We monitored the situation, but it was never close.

    “We did not have to experience the rivalry between Spurs and Chelsea.

    “I thought it would happen. I thought he would go to City, it would have been interesting to see actually. Then maybe they would change their way of playing.”

  • EPL: Tuchel highlights Saul mistakes against Aston Villa

    EPL: Tuchel highlights Saul mistakes against Aston Villa

    Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said Saul Niguez made “big mistakes” in his debut on Saturday against Aston Villa.

    The German tactician picked his line-up thinking the midfielder would be able to adapt right away to the pace of play before replacing the Spain international at half-time of a 3-0 win.

    Saul, on loan from Atletico Madrid, did not train in pre-season with the Blues as he arrived just before the transfer deadline.

    “I had the feeling that he struggled,” Tuchel told Sky Sports. “There were some big mistakes, passing mistakes, and he struggled with the intensity. You could see he isn’t fully adapted.

    “It’s completely my responsibility. I had the feeling he could jump in for us and play at that level. I [then] thought it was maybe better to change him, but it doesn’t change anything [about how I see him].”

    The head coach later added: “It’s very hard. You can either do it or not do it. I told him before it was my responsibility if it does not work out for the matter of your life. He struggled a bit, created some half-chances for Aston Villa.”

  • I’ve been fighting to land Saul for years – Tuchel

    I’ve been fighting to land Saul for years – Tuchel

    Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is excited with the signing of Saul Niguez.

    The on-loan Atletico Madrid midfielder could make his debut against Aston Villa.

    Tuchel said: “I personally was a bit concerned to go into the season with only Jorginho, Mateo (Kovacic) and N’Golo (Kante).

    “Not because of a lack of quality of character – I’m the happiest coach I can be to have these three guys – but it is unpredictable.

    “I know the player since many, many years. I was fighting in some other clubs for the player but it wasn’t possible. So in the end,when it was possible to have the loan, we were excited by it.”

  • I know we can count on Timo Werner – Tuchel

    I know we can count on Timo Werner – Tuchel

    Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel insists he’s counting on Timo Werner this season.

    Tuchel is confident Werner and Romelu Lukaku can play together.

    He said ahead of their clash with Aston Villa: “I am sure that we will find games and solutions where we play with both of them (Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku). We did already and Timo and Romelu can be a good fit together. Timo loves to play around a reference up front and Romelu is clearly our reference up front being a tall and physical player.

    “The most important is he finds his rhythm and confidence and joy and makes his point and makes his way into the team. The players are in charge to take their positions and fight for their positions and once they have it to not give it away.

    “We are very happy that he scored and played (for Germany in the international break) and on we go. We have not too many players but we have players with high quality and high ambition and Timo is clearly a guy that we count on and that is absolutely necessary we have him on high level.”

  • Tuchel believes in me, Lampard made life difficult – Christensen

    Tuchel believes in me, Lampard made life difficult – Christensen

    Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen has revealed that German tactician, Thomas Tuchel truly believes in him.

    The Dane fell out of favour under previous manager Frank Lampard.

    But Christensen, 24, has become an important player for Tuchel and has now started talks on extending his contract with the Blues.

    “I know Thomas Tuchel believes in me,” he told Ekstra Bladet. “I have also played a big role since he came.

    “I had a very difficult period under [Frank] Lampard, shortly before he was fired. Now luckily it’s going the right way for me. Things can go fast in this world.

    “The most important thing is just that I have never given up.”