No more Mr Nice Guy as Thomas Tuchel takes charge of underperforming Chelsea

Frank Lampard always maintained he would not get any preferential treatment from Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and so it proved on Monday as the club's record goalscorer was sacked as manager.

The Blues moved swiftly to appoint Thomas Tuchel, who was himself fired by PSG on Christmas Eve despite a 2019-20 campaign in which the Parisians landed a domestic treble and reached their first Champions League final.

So what are Chelsea expecting from Tuchel and, more importantly, can the 47-year-old German deliver the goods?

From Mainz man to treble trouble

Tuchel's management career began at Mainz, who had been relegated from the Bundesliga under Jurgen Klopp in 2006-07. Tuchel took charge at the start of 2009-10 and established them in the top flight during his five seasons at the club.

A limited budget meant his priorities were tactical flexibility and the development of young players and Tuchel's Mainz twice qualified for the Europa League, finishing fifth in 2010-11 and seventh three years later.

Disillusioned by a lack of transfer funds, he asked to be released from his contract and took a year out before succeeding Klopp at Borussia Dortmund in 2015.

His BVB side played some spectacular football in 2015-16, winning 24 of their 34 league games and finishing as runners-up to Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich.

The following season Tuchel guided Dortmund to DFB-Pokal glory but he was sacked three days after the final, the culmination of long-running tension over transfer strategy that saw him fall out with CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and chief scout Sven Mislintat.

A year later, Paris St-Germain came calling and Tuchel's new squad was soon significantly bolstered by the signing of France World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe.

Despite Mbappe's arrival, familiar problems arose. Tuchel was unimpressed with the club's recruitment, demanding more defensive reinforcements and making his point in public by defiantly playing new midfielder Danilo Pereira at centre-back.

Last season's treble triumph, and a narrow 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, failed to smooth things over and the PSG hierarchy decided to cut their ties with the turbulent Tuchel on December 24.

New boss must banish big-game blues

Lampard secured a top-four Premier League finish in his first season at Chelsea but his results against the top clubs were dismal.

The Blues lost five of their six league games against Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United in 2019-20 and they were tonked 7-1 on aggregate by Bayern in the last 16 of the Champions League.

This season, despite a summer spending spree, they have won just one of nine games against top-half teams and were outclassed by Manchester City in a 3-1 home defeat on January 3.

Tuchel's experience and tactical expertise mean he should be better equipped to deal with high-profile opponents and his PSG side gave all-conquering Bayern a far tougher game than many anticipated in the Champions League final.

With the January transfer window about to close, Tuchel's priority is to successfully integrate the summer signings, in particular his struggling compatriots Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.

Lampard was praised for giving Chelsea's young players a chance and Tuchel is unlikely to stifle their development. He will be reunited with winger Christian Pulisic, a teenage star of Tuchel's Dortmund side, and any players who work hard enough to meet the new boss's high standards can expect opportunities.

The German's preferred formation at Dortmund and PSG was a 4-3-3 although he has also employed wing-backs, as he did in a 3-4-2-1 set-up for Wednesday's 0-0 draw with Wolves at Stamford Bridge.

He inherits some high-class natural wide players in Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi, as well as full-backs Ben Chilwell and Reece James, and Chelsea fans can expect an energetic, attack-minded brand of football.

The verdict

As a manager, Lampard often came across as a nice guy and a good communicator who lacked the necessary tactical nous in big games.

In Tuchel, Chelsea have gone to the opposite extreme, appointing an obsessive tactical innovator whose demands can upset and ostracise players, staff and even his bosses.

Watzke, his old sparring partner in Dortmund, has described him as "a fantastic coach but a difficult person".

Considering Tuchel's history of falling out with his superiors and Abramovich's lack of patience with underperforming managers, it will be intriguing to see how long the honeymoon period lasts.

But the new manager has plenty of talented players to work with at Stamford Bridge and a deep enough squad to allow him to tinker with tactics and formations depending on the opposition.

Bookmakers certainly regard him as an upgrade, trimming Chelsea's odds to finish in the top four after Lampard's departure, and Tuchel's tenure should be lively – both on the pitch and in the boardroom.

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