Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel left players stunned with ‘unheard of’ dressing room talk
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Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel left players stunned with his comments at half time in their 2-0 win over Newcastle earlier in the month, according to reports. The German was appointed Frank Lampard’s replacement in January. And the Blues have been in fantastic form ever since.
Chelsea have won every game under Tuchel, barring the 1-1 draw with Southampton in the Premier League last weekend.
It’s been quite a turnaround from the Blues, who were previously struggling under Lampard.
Chelsea’s crowning moment under Tuchel so far was the midweek victory over Atletico Madrid, with Olivier Giroud scoring the winner in their Champions League clash.
Yet The Athletic have detailed a dressing room chat that left players stunned beforehand.
It’s claimed that, in Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Newcastle on February 15, Tuchel shocked the players by promising to give them two days off if they won the game.
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A source is quoted as saying: “He was giving the team talk and then suddenly said, ‘If you win this game, I will give you two days off’.
“Everyone looked at each other thinking, ‘What the…?!’ This was the first they’d heard of it.
“They’d never had something like this before. It was his way of motivating them.”
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Chelsea won the game and, since then, have continued to improve – with Tuchel now targeting a top four finish.
Another insider has hailed the German for the way he’s approached the squad, giving reason to every player across the board.
“The ones that aren’t playing, he is always talking to them,” one source explains. “That’s the big difference Tuchel has made.
“It means something. If the manager chats to you when out of the side, you have a better feeling.
“You feel part of the group, still included, still part of it. He tells them what to do better, that kind of thing. He focuses on the whole team, the whole squad. He is very personable.”
Another continued: “There is a mixture of players.
“People said when Lampard left and Tuchel took over that it would be a return to just the foreigners… well, that has been shown to be bull****.
“Everybody is inside. He’s brought the belief and the togetherness back. There is trust.
“For the players that were left out under Lampard it feels like they have gone from 8mph to 80mph.
“Since the first day, they felt integrated. There was something missing before. The spirit changed a lot.”
Meanwhile, it’s since emerged Chelsea nearly didn’t hire Tuchel – and came close to opting for a shock return for Maurizio Sarri instead.
Sarri was appointed as Antonio Conte’s successor in 2018, with Roman Abramovich convinced he’d be a Stamford Bridge hit.
However, he was axed the following year after failing to live up to expectations.
Yet Italian journalist Ciro Venerato has claimed Sarri nearly took charge of Chelsea for a second time.
“Chelsea, after having dismissed Lampard, wanted the coach back,” Venerato told Rai Sport.
“Marina Granovskaia, in particular, fought for the return of the coach. Sarri had said yes to Chelsea.
“However, Roman Abramovich stopped everything. Sarri’s wife and son are pushing for Maurizio’s return to Naples.”
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