Gary Neville credits Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel for defensive overhaul
Gary Neville lauded Thomas Tuchel for the work he has done at Chelsea (h/t Football.london). The former Manchester United defender was particularly impressed with the defensive overhaul Tuchel has done at the club.
When Chelsea sacked Frank Lampard and appointed Thomas Tuchel, even the most optimistic of fans wouldn’t have expected the stage where Chelsea are right now. From the more free-flowing nature back then, the Blues have become a tougher unit who are an annoying menace to deal with.
The change and ideas were visible from Tuchel’s first game itself. The formation was changed to a back three and several players who were in the cold under Lampard were brought back into the fray. Barring the West Brom game, Chelsea have shown an impeccable and resolute defence.
Neville shared his thoughts on the same and praised the German manager for completely changing the defence of Chelsea.
“I don’t know how Tuchel coaches it, he’s been here four or five months, he has games every Wednesday and Saturday, there’s no time on the training pitch, you’re talking about recoveries most of the time. How has he coached that instantly into a team straight away?
“It’s an outstanding coaching performance and well done to the players for taking it on board as well. If you said to me that [Antonio] Rudiger, [Andreas] Christensen and [Cesar] Azpilicueta in a back three – and Thiago Silva, who’s a brilliant player but an ageing player – would have 11 clean sheets, I’d say not a chance. It’s got to be down to the manager and the coaching.”
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Those are indeed good praises from an iconic defender in his playing days. It’s hard to argue with his assessment. Tuchel has made Chelsea a solid team with very negligible weaknesses. All that will be put to the test as Chelsea have two finals to play this month.
