Thomas
Tuchel is a coach so intent on looking forward rather than luxuriating that
Chelsea's Champions League triumph remains a mere series of snapshots, a
brilliant blur.
"I still haven't watched the 90 minutes back yet!" he laughs. "It was
necessary to process it a little bit. I watched bits of it with friends back
in Paris - just highlights to regain a bit of feeling - and when I went to
Germany to see my grandmother and my parents, everyone was speaking about
it.
"Seeing how happy my friends, my family, friends of the family were about it
made me happy.
"But I'm not the guy who looks back too much."
Tuchel's Chelsea legend is already secure after a half-season wonder during
which he outmanoeuvred Manchester City to deliver only the club's second
Champions League title, secured a top-four Premier League finish with a side
he found slumped in mid-table and transformed a team in the mind as well as
on the training pitch.
But here, firmly back "in the present" and further fuelled by an extended
contract as well as his family's arrival in London, his focus is on
sustained success at Stamford Bridge as he speaks to Sky Sports in the days
before the Blues' 2021/22 season opener against Crystal Palace.
"Nobody will take the Champions League away from us but I think it's enough
time now that everyone has let it sink in. Now it's the moment to show it
again.
"I don't have a recipe about what we do after the Champions League because
it was my first Champions League [win] but what I am comfortable with, is
taking care of the process.
"We have this experience now of winning the Champions League but don't
overthink it, don't get lost in a theoretical approach about the next step.
Let's just value the possibility of stepping up again."
Tuchel is just getting started as he gears up for his first full season in
charge in west London and so, it seems, are his players. On the morning the
German meets the media to preview the new campaign, defender Ben Chilwell is
delivering his own statement of intent.
"Our focus and our aim is to win the league this season," he tells Sky
Sports. "Winning the Champions League gives us more confidence to win more
silverware and also the hunger; once you've had that feeling of winning a
trophy, it makes you want it again."
They secured the Super Cup after a penalty shootout win against Villarreal,
Tuchel's inspired decision to send on Kepa Arrizabalaga for the spot-kicks
further evidence of his sharp psychological as well as tactical instincts,
but the focus now is flexing their muscles on the home front.
Pre-season was "challenging" with a trip to Dublin truncated by a
coronavirus scare and his internationals returning to Cobham late following
Euro 2020, but Tuchel says he has been taken aback by the intensity of
fitness sessions, even if he admits optimum levels for some could still be a
few weeks away.
"It's been quite a unique preparation, pretty challenging. Some of the
players have had only one week of training; they'll need to continue - they
will be at their peak probably in September but this is something we have to
adapt to.
"There have been double sessions to give everyone the exact workload they
need but the physical department has been outstanding and the players have
been fantastic in terms of work ethic. They have worked really hard - it's
been on a level I haven't experienced before; everyone is taking it so
seriously."
Chelsea's Premier League rivals are certainly taking it seriously.
Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish - for a British transfer record - have
arrived at Manchester United and Manchester City respectively and Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer has declared himself braced for one of the "strongest Premier
League seasons" yet.
Tuchel is wary of the impetus returning fans will give some less-fancied
sides: "It will be a huge reward to play in front of fans - I can imagine
teams who will be underdogs will make things more difficult for us and it's
more difficult in coaching because the players don't hear it. We all have to
be on our top level."
But he has been determined to bolster his own squad in response to what he
admits are "big signings going on" elsewhere.
Last summer prompted a squad overhaul that cost more than £200m, but this
window's search has centred on one type of reinforcement: an elite striker
to decide moments and margins.
A tactical shift had shored up a side leaky under Frank Lampard and mentally
fragile - the Blues recorded 18 clean sheets in all competitions after
Tuchel's January arrival - and yet at the other end of the pitch, so many
big chances were still squandered, so many promising positions in vain.
Only six teams had a lower shot conversion rate than Chelsea last term and
three of those sides were relegated; only four sides had a poorer return on
expected goals data. In April, Tuchel said bluntly that his forwards' return
was "clearly not enough for the demands, the expectations and the targets
Chelsea football club has." Jorginho would finish their leading league
goalscorer on just seven.
Tuchel would not be drawn on Lukaku's impending return, a decade on, in his
press conference to preview the Villarreal clash but he did tell Sky Sports
that the Belgian was the kind of "real No. 9" he believes can galvanise his
attack.
"We lost Olivier Giroud, who played a crucial role at the club - his goal
against Atletico Madrid was decisive in our Champions League campaign - and
he was the kind of profile who likes to play with his back to goal, who
likes to hold up balls, who creates space for Timo Werner, Kai Havertz,
Christian Pulisic; who is ready to fight physically with defenders.
"Romelu is one of the guys like [Erling] Haaland at Dortmund, [Robert]
Lewandowski at Bayern, Harry Kane at Tottenham, who is a real No. 9 who
loves to score and who has a presence in the box."
His imminent arrival may prompt a tweak in offensive shape given Werner's
success playing alongside a fellow striker at RB Leipzig. While Lukaku
scored 24 goals to help Inter to the Serie A title, he was involved in 11
more too, his fruitful link-up play with Lautaro Martinez and Andrea Belotti
another sign of his evolving all-round game.
The prospect of further freedom to exploit space as Lukaku harries and drags
opponents excites Werner - who converted just a fifth of his clear-cut
chances last term - as well as his boss. "At Leipzig, it helped to have a
striker alongside me," he admitted. "It's a good new weapon to have in our
game, to know that he will hold a ball up and the fast players around him
can set off.
But Tuchel is determined to also look within as he seeks improvements to
give Chelsea the edge.
"At the same time, we're giving all our energy to the guys that we have. We
have a lot of confidence in what we have. One of the big targets is to get
better with this group, to improve them.
"We did our job in analysing the season: where did we create the chances,
how many chances did we create, how many players were in the box when we
created chances, from where did we shoot, what shots did we take?
"A lot of work has gone on to make people aware of these things; how do we
improve the possibility and probability?
"Maybe it's also sometimes a question of experience as well as composure.
Maybe a second year in the Premier League for Kai and Timo… adapting and
everything being new will not be such a huge point.
"I'm confident. But it's a mix of everything. I don't think out there exists
any shooting drills that will solve the problem. If they did, we'd do them
day in, day out!
"It's a complex game and there is room to improve us in terms of scoring but
I think experience will help."
The experience of beating City three times last term across all competitions
has also injected confidence but the challenge is consistency; making five
transformative months count across 10.
Tuchel, always looking forward not back, believes his side are ready to
mount a sustained title challenge.
"The last half-year, we tried to close gaps to Liverpool, to Man City, to
Man Utd and now we need to try and do this from the first day.
"Can we predict what others do? No. But we have set the standards very high
for ourselves so we have to reproduce them. That will be our approach.
"City have shown what it takes to be champions, Liverpool have shown it -
consistency at the highest level in the most difficult league in the world.
"This is the benchmark. We're not hiding behind what we demand of ourselves.
We accept it will be tough but we have proved that we are capable of doing
it. We're here to close the gap not only for the half-year, but for the
whole year."
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