Tuchel & Chelsea: a match made in football heaven, apparently
In the wake of Chelsea reaching the Champions League final, football journalist Julien Laurens highlighted a very impressive stat about their new(ish) head coach Thomas Tuchel:
In just four months in charge of Chelsea, Tuchel has beaten teams managed by:
Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Pep Guardiola (Man City), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Diego Simeone (Atletico – twice), Jose Mourinho (Spurs) and Carlo Ancelotti (Everton). Number of goals conceded by Chelsea in those wins? None. NONE. Tuchel is the Messiah!
P.S. Laurens didn’t mention Chelsea’s recent clean-sheet wins over Scott Parker (Fulham) and David Moyes (West Ham), which is a tad harsh on the Englishman and the Scot, as they’ve both done better (relatively) than Mourinho this season.
The only manager who has done a job on Tuchel is the one, the only, BIG SAM. West Brom beat Chelsea 5-2 at Stamford Bridge this season, which has to rank as one of the most outlying results in years, even if Chelsea did have a man sent off.
Bonus stat: Big Sam is the only manager to win away at Chelsea in the Premier League with three different clubs (Bolton, Crystal Palace and West Brom).