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At 45 minutes played and 4-0 up with Chelsea fans in jubilance, it was almost job done for Thomas Tuchel in his dugout. It was an afternoon where the Blues were scintillating in attack against a passive Southampton side, but still, the qualities of Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner barely lifted the German coach from his seat.

It's rare to not see Tuchel patrolling his technical area and venting his frustrations to his support staff. Still, the Blues boss offered little outside applause of small passages of play when his team drove forward or pressed well. The photographers at St Mary's could only catch him acknowledging the supporters at the end of the game.

Already when the players returned to the changing rooms for half-time, Christian Pulisic was in his shining yellow kit and warming up along the halfway line. Tuchel had made his mind up already, Havertz, fresh from his goal, was to be replaced. It was another solid display from the German who Werner partnered, but one where he may not get the headlines his countryman and Mason Mount earned.

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Nevertheless, Tuchel did not want to waste his energy as the Blues head into their Champions League quarter-final second leg, followed by an FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace. Havertz had completed 90 minutes in Chelsea's previous five Premier League matches and two of the last three in Europe and, in the outlier, managed 83 minutes as the Blues overcame Lille.

Tuchel said following the