Pragmatic, flexible and nurturing Thomas Tuchel - Fresh out of the Ralf Rangnick school of hard knocks

A Manager profile of the man expected to be announced as the next Chelsea head coach

Well, the reality is we now have to talk about the new Chelsea manager - which evidently looks set to be former PSG, Dortmund and Mainz boss Thomas Tuchel.

Frank Lampard was sacked by Chelsea on Monday, and all sources are in agreement that Tuchel will soon be announced as his replacement.

So what type of manager do we have coming in?

Well, to begin with the negative, and perhaps the most worrying aspect of any doubts that people will have - Tuchel is a tough cookie and he is known to clash with the board of previous clubs he has managed, most notably PSG.

Now as we know, our very own beloved Chelsea board have now clashed big time with a host of managers in recent years including Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri, and now Frank Lampard.

Recipe for disaster? Quite possibly. I wouldn’t be surprised if I am sat here writing another article for the next Chelsea manager in a years time, adding Tuchel to that list.

However, we must go into this with an open mind if the decision has been made, and we as fans will fully support the new boss, and there is a lot to be excited about.

His biggest and best asset is how flexible and pragmatic Tuchel is when using his line ups, something that Lampard was criticised for not doing.

At Paris Saint-Germain, Tuchel primarily played a 4-3-3 with plenty of pace and an emphasis on attacking fluidity.

But he is flexible and has also been known to use a 4-2-2-2 formation as well, which is one that could suit his fellow countryman Kai Havertz and Timo Werner here. It is the way that he then switches this formation up in-game to cope with circumstances and floats between a 5-3-2, then readjusts to a 4-4-2 and even a 3-5-2.

Whilst managing at Mainz, Tuchel earned a reputation as one of German football's most tactically astute young coaches, regularly switching up formations to adapt, whilst always sticking to his own unique fundamentals.

"There's definitely a style that’s been attributed to me, that we brought to the table at Mainz: pace going forward and attack-minded football,” he told German newspaper die Zeit. "I prefer certain qualities, an active playing style, bold defending and pacy play in attack."

He is also known to take unconventional approaches to his work. According to The Bundesliga website, once, after a bad defeat, he motivated his players with a quote from NBA legend Michael Jordan: "I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Tuchel has also been praised for his implementation of innovative training methods, and he has been noted for his use of man-marking, just as he did with Ander Herrera on Thiago Alcântara in the 2020 UEFA Champions League Final.

Another massive plus point is that Tuchel is known to be a great nurturing coach, he loves to develop young players just as he did with Christian Pulisic and Ousmane Dembele at Dortmund.

If you look at this from a Chelsea perspective, it paints a great picture for the academy lads, and especially alongside the fact that Tuchel likes his teams to be fresh and full of pace.

His very first coaching job was under Ralf Rangnick at Stuttgart, who is considered to be one of the most influential coaches and executives in the world .

So he was taught by one of the best and comes from the Rangnick school of hard knocks.

At Mainz, his first real solo coaching job, Tuchel steered them to a ninth-placed finish in his debut campaign, and the clubs first season in the top flight.

He then lead them to the UEFA Europa League for the first time in the club's history after finishing fifth in 2011/12.

Tuchel remains the most successful coach in Mainz's history, averaging more points per game (1.41) than Jurgen Klopp, who was in charge there back in 2005/06.

Then the same thing happened at Dortmund, he became the most successful coach in their history with an average of 2.09 points per Bundesliga game.

His Dortmund side had a 62.9% win rate and they won the DFB Pokal Cup in 2016/17.

Then at PSG, he took them to the runners up spot in the Champions League, won Ligue 1 twice, and had a 74.80% win rate.

Tuchel played the game a little when he was younger for Augsburg as a defender, but he was released at the age of 19 without ever making the first team. He then played for the Stuttgarter Kickers in Bundesliga 2, before joining third-tier outfit SSV Ulm.

He was forced to hang up his boots for good due to a serious knee injury at the age of 24 in 1998.

He briefly tried again to make it as a pro, but this is when Rangnick started his coaching career for him instead.

It has always been the dream of Tuchel to manage in the Premier League, and he is very excited to become the manager of Chelsea.

Ousmane Dembele describes Tuchel as the most important coach of his career.

So it a nutshell, Chelsea are getting a manager who is tactically superb, knows how the play different systems, develops and makes players better, and is over the moon to be at coaching in England!