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Football London
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Daniel Childs

Kai Havertz masterstroke, double sixes and wingbacks: Thomas Tuchel's best Chelsea moments

We are not ready to move on just yet. Yes, the papers are being prepared for Graham Potter to sign and within a week the football world will have cruelly moved on.

There is little time to pause; football is unrelenting and unforgiving. We are only given hours to appreciate someone's legacy, which is quite frankly ridiculous, especially with a coach who took the club to a European Cup.

The exit of Thomas Tuchel has hurt and shocked supporters. And given what he achieved within his 100-game spell at the club, you cannot flippantly forget the legacy he will now leave behind even if a new man is about to arrive.

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So, I thought we would take a look back at the best hits of the Tuchel era. This is a personal list and I am sure those of you reading with have your own that may not make this one, so please leave them in the comments below.

The first press conference

Along with Porto, this for me is a non-negotiable of the Tuchel era. It felt fitting that a Tuchel presser is the first to make this list as, for many, his press conferences were consistently enlightening and enjoyable.

Following the sacking of Frank Lampard and the draw against Wolves, Tuchel first addressed the media properly on the Thursday of a hectic first week. He was engaging, humble, informative and emotionally intelligent to grasp how the dismissal of his predecessor upset his new set of supporters.

He not only understood that mood but was excitable and happy to share his ideas for Chelsea. Although some had painted Tuchel as a pretty distant tactician, the way Chelsea fans connected with him challenged the disconnect seen at Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain.

His first response when asked why Chelsea? "Why not?

Thomas Tuchel was very impressive in his first press conference as Chelsea's new head coach in January of 2021 (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images))

"If you sign for Chelsea you sign for the hunger of titles, you sign for being absolutely competitive in every competition you play. I'm totally aware of that.

"It is like you said but it does not scare me, we have big ambitions. I myself have the biggest ambitions."

You should go back and watch his first press conference. It is a masterclass in how you speak to a fractured fanbase reeling after another reset.

The double-six

Although the midfield became an issue eventually for Tuchel, the way he created the base for a Champions League triumph began in central midfield, an area that had felt so uncertain before he was appointed.

In his first presser, he spoke of a "double six" a new phrase for Chelsea fans to add to their vocabulary, which they did with ease as N'Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic rotated, with the first two becoming a huge part of the structure once the Blues set course for Porto.

Jorginho's performances in the Champions League deserve a special mention, Tuchel's ability to help the Italian reach such levels seemed impossible only a year before, along with others he improved during that opening period. N'Golo Kante going supersonic was defining for Chelsea in that run, with Tuchel being able to conjure the Frenchman's most extraordinary run of performances in blue.

Antonio Rudiger's ascent

In the aftermath of Lampard going, Rudiger was not the most popular figure amongst fans, nor was he someone that looked capable of becoming one of Europe's best performing defenders, something he quickly became on the left of Tuchel's back-three.

Previous Chelsea coaches had struggled to balance out Rudiger's aggression and clear defensive acumen into a role that channelled what clearly was a talented player into a more consistent presence.

Antonio Rudiger had his best period at Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

Rudiger's development is probably the starkest under Tuchel in a season and a half working together. The good thing about Rudiger was that his peak did not end after the Champions League win, a case you could argue for others; he was one of the club's top performers last season in the area that Tuchel most improved when taking the role.

Porto and the Kai Havertz switch

Of course, it has to be Porto, the pinnacle and the height of Tuchel's success at Chelsea. He would follow this by winning the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, also getting to two further domestic cup final and achieving the highest league points tally since the last title win in 2017.

But winning the Champions League is just a different level of emotion. This will be the moment that will be replayed over and over again in Chelsea folklore. Switching Kai Havertz into a forward role worked wonders for Tuchel in this game, with the German gliding behind the Manchester City defence before placing the ball into an empty net beyond a stranded Ederson.

Thomas Tuchel will go down in Chelsea folklore for winning the Champions League in 2021 ((Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images))

All of Tuchel's tactical work on the defensive structure, counter-pressing and transitions led into this game. There were shades of the 1-0 win away at Spurs in Thiago Silva being replaced by Andreas Christensen in the first half. The consistent counter-attacking opportunities at Anfield in March, or the win over City in the FA Cup semi-final, with Timo Werner's pace and Mason Mount's movement causing havoc.

Tuchel had attached a jet pack to Chelsea and driven them back to a status that looked far away.

Beating Pep Guardiola three times in a row between April and May of last year epitomised why Tuchel is one of the game's finest tacticians. Someone who consistently proved himself capable of orchestrating a game plan that nullified elite attacking threats whilst giving the Blues a platform to attack.

The way in which his two wingbacks, Reece James and Ben Chilwell would provide the width and vital quality to progress the ball, is demonstrated by Chilwell in Havertz's winner.

Winning the club's second-only Champions League puts him in a special category at Chelsea, the only shame is that a league title would have likely propelled him into the greatest of all time conversation.

Go back and watch the full-time whistle in the Estadio do Dragao, the joy, the happy tears, the flailing limbs and disbelief. That is what Tuchel created in a ridiculously short period of time, he had made Chelsea the best team in Europe that season: and for that, fans will be eternally grateful to Deutscher Maestro.

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