A year of Thomas Tuchel: Chelsea remain a cup club in need of new culture

Thomas Tuchel seemed to have all the right answers a year ago. In fact, the only time he was unsure about how to respond was when Chelsea approached him about replacing Frank Lampard. After all, Tuchel had just experienced a bitter split with Paris Saint-Germain and the thought of going to Chelsea did not immediately appear to be the wisest move.

Questions had to be answered. What if Tuchel found life at Stamford Bridge just as draining as at PSG? Would he ever want to work at a top club again? Or would he decide that he no longer needed to handle star egos and demanding executives?

As discussions with Chelsea progressed, though, Tuchel came round to the idea. The powerful director Marina Granovskaia did not listen when the German asked whether she really wanted to fire a club legend. Lampard was gone and Tuchel, who had built a rapport with the club’s technical and performance adviser, Petr Cech, was in.

The pressure was on. Chelsea had slipped to ninth and the dressing room was an unhappy place. Tuchel focused on restoring harmony, introduced greater tactical nous and, although Chelsea limped into fourth place and lost the FA Cup final to Leicester, the season ended on a high when Manchester City were defeated in the Champions League final.

By then Tuchel could do no wrong. He outsmarted Pep Guardiola in Porto and, having signed on an initial 18-month deal, triggered a clause stating that he would receive another two years if he won the Champions League or Premier League.

Tuchel, who met Roman Abramovich the morning after beating City, was content. He had embraced the culture at Chelsea, who left him to focus on coaching, and he could trust Granovskaia and Cech not to interfere. Managing upwards was not a problem for