The club’s official website confirms that Thomas Tuchel is named Kicker‘s German coach of the year for the year 2021 after his mesmerizing second half of the season with Chelsea.
He took over the helm from Frank Lampard earlier this year with a big job at hand. Since then, Chelsea have looked like a changed side, especially at the back.
Their success in winning games by slender margins under Tuchel coupled with a solid defensive line guided the club to a 4th-placed finish in the Premier League. But the big prize came in the last days of May.
The Blues took on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side in an all-English clash in the UEFA Champions League final. Tuchel’s men downed the star-studded Citizens and kept a clean sheet to win 1-0 via Kai Havertz’s goal.
It was just the second Champions League trophy in the history of the club, and their first since 2012. Speaking in an interview with the club media after winning the award, Tuchel deflected all the praise towards the players as well as his backroom staff.
“I accept the award very gratefully as a great honour for the entire team because I see myself as a team player. I don’t believe in individual awards too much, I truly believe it is a team effort, not only the players on the pitch everybody loves, but the team behind the team. I don’t do this alone. I do it with my staff, not only my German and Hungarian staff but all the people at Cobham…”
Tuchel was awarded a new contract at Chelsea not long after his team’s UCL win. The Athletic (Subscription Required) reported last month that the deal would extend his stay from 2022 to the summer of 2024.
Chelsea fans on Twitter were on hand to congratulate their boss on winning yet another award Here are some of the best reactions as found on the social media website:
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