5 ways in which Thomas Tuchel has changed Chelsea 

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel

#3 Thomas Tuchel has revived crucial players

Real Madrid v Chelsea - UEFA Champions League Semi Final: Leg One
Real Madrid v Chelsea - UEFA Champions League Semi Final: Leg One

Frank Lampard did suffer a lot towards the end of his tenure at Chelsea. Even though the argument that he should have been given more time has some merit, it is a fact that he couldn't make the best use of the personnel at his disposal.

Thomas Tuchel has walked in and given everyone a chance to revive their Chelsea careers. As a result, players like Antonio Rudiger, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Marcos Alonso, who were all cast away under Lampard, have now become prominent members of the squad.

Rudiger had even come close to leaving Chelsea in January but he has since made the left centre-back position his own. Callum Hudson-Odoi has proven to be crucial to Chelsea's flexibility during games as he helps facilitate a transition from their 3-4-1-2 formation to a 3-4-2-1 system during the course of the game.

#2 Improving Chelsea's young players

Crystal Palace v Chelsea - Premier League
Crystal Palace v Chelsea - Premier League

Thomas Tuchel is famous for improving young players. He did it at Borussia Dortmund and he repeated it at Paris Saint-Germain. Chelsea have a plethora of young talent in their squad and under Tuchel, all of them have thrived.

Kai Havertz struggled under Lampard and was being slated for being an expensive flop. He has become one of Chelsea's best players in recent weeks. The same goes for Christian Pulisic, who is enjoying a new lease of life under Tuchel and has looked more threatening than ever under Tuchel.

Although Timo Werner's finishing still needs a lot of work, he has become better at other aspects of his game. Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James and Mason Mount have all shown a lot of improvement under Tuchel and there is no doubt that the German coach is the one to take this team forward.

#1 Flexibility and in-game management

Liverpool v Chelsea - Premier League
Liverpool v Chelsea - Premier League

Thomas Tuchel can be an animated presence on the touchline. With players like Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic fighting for a starting berth in the forward line, Tuchel has the freedom to make effective changes as the game progresses.

Kai Havertz can play as a centre-forward as well and this enables Tuchel to play Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic right behind him. The German coach shifts between a 3-4-2-1 and a 3-4-1-2 formation based on how the opposition responds to Chelsea's attackers.

In N'Golo Kante, Tuchel has a box-to-box midfielder who can contribute equally in attack and defense. Hence, if the Blues are in need of an extra man going forward, Kante will be given more attacking responsibilities like he was in both legs of their Champions League semi-final tie against Real Madrid.

Tuchel has been able to identify problems during the course of the game and make changes based on them. When Timo Werner was seen drifting to the left side far too often in the game against Everton in March, Tuchel screamed at him to get back into his position on the right.

Chelsea played out a 0-0 draw against Leeds United and on seeing Chilwell getting beaten twice by Raphinha, he urged his wing-back to get more serious. Though it was one of Chilwell's worst performances in a Chelsea shirt, he still went on to make more interceptions (4) than any other player on the pitch.

Tuchel is a great coach and he understands the game better than most. As a result, one can never write Chelsea off as they always have a lot of firepower on their bench and a manager who knows exactly who can make a difference.

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