How Tuchel transformed Chelsea into Champions League winners

On January 25, Chelsea sacked head coach Frank Lampard. Four months and four days later, they were crowned Champions League winners after beating Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. How did they go from being an unstructured and unbalanced team to beating one of the best coaches in modern football three times on the way to becoming European champions?

Tuchel's immediate impact 

At times under Lampard, Chelsea looked unable to defend right after losing the ball (known as counter-pressing). This indicated a lack of structure when having the ball. For example, if you lose possession while being too wide the opposition can quickly get away from you because there's too much distance to recover.

That would have also contributed to problems creating high-quality chances. If you're too wide or too narrow, it's harder to progress the ball. Added to this, Lampard couldn't figure out what roles to give his players, specifically Kai Havertz who was tried as an 8, 9, 10 and a winger.

Tuchel's first game as coach against Wolves was the complete opposite of all of that. He incorporated a proper structure — a back five, two central defensive midfielders, two attacking midfielders and one striker. This improved how Chelsea moved the ball in possession as the three central defenders and the defensive midfielders could help playing out from the back. The wingbacks covered the wide areas and allowed the attacking players to drop in and out when it suited them.

Outclassing Manchester City

Later on in his Chelsea tenure, Tuchel used a defensive set-up that allowed his team to sit closer to their own goal in a more compact 5–4–1 formation. This meant Chelsea could close down central areas of the pitch by creating "cover shadows,” which is the tactic of blocking passing lines while being placed in between two opponents, making it impossible to directly pass to their teammate. This is demonstrated by the grey triangles below.

At the same time, he implemented an aggressive man-marking approach that meant his players always had to follow their opponents. This was an effective tactic for Tuchel to choose as he arrived mid season and had little time to get the team to play how he wanted. It is easier to have an opponent to follow rather than learning a new structure or tactic.

He also introduced principles of play based on individualized player roles. For example, Timo Werner has a natural strength on the left-half of the centre of the pitch (or as it's more commonly known, the left half-space). Paired with his speed, Tuchel created a movement pattern to allow Werner to open up space for himself when entering the penalty area, which is why he is always in a great position to score.

All of these implemented tactics created the basis of Chelsea defeating Manchester City in both games before the Champions League final — the FA Cup semifinal and a Premier League game. The best example of this came in the 1–0 win in the cup, specifically Hakim Ziyech's goal.

Chelsea were playing with five defenders with a double pivot using an individualized approach to create space for Werner and Ziyech up front. This led to Werner assisting Ziyech for his goal from his strong side. Now, why is this goal important in the context of the Champions League final? 

European champions

The goal Manchester City conceded in Porto on Saturday night was the exact same as the one in the FA Cup semifinal.

To explain how this happened, we have to look at Guardiola's set up. City came out with an attacking side, ready to put pressure on Chelsea's build-up play early on. They did this to prevent their opponent's short-passing game.

Tuchel on the other hand, countered that by chipping over the first line of Manchester City players instead of playing on the ground, through them. Tuchel also wanted his team to block City's fullbacks, to defend going forward in order to free their own wingbacks and create a two-vs-one advantage on the wing, as you can't efficiently defend against two attackers with one player. 

As soon as Chelsea played into this area, City's fullback would need to make the decision whether he would go after the player receiving the pass or the opponent making a run behind his back. For both goals, (in the FA Cup and the Champions League) Werner attacking the left space drew his opponent's centre back out of position and opened up the space for Ziyech and Havertz respectively in each scoring scenario.

With the lead in the final secure, Tuchel could then get his players to defend closer to their own goal (also known as a low block) and trap City through the use of cover shadows, as explained earlier. This also triggered their aggressive man-marking.

Every time Guardiola's side played into Chelsea's line-up, City bypassed their opponent's first line of players. This brought the likes of Havertz, Mason Mount and Werner into excellent positions to counterattack because as soon as Chelsea won the ball back, City were often left in a three-vs-three situation against really fast players.

Since Tuchel's first game at Chelsea, we have seen a stark improvement in structure, approach and players' individual efforts. Tuchel's changes took a team in mid-table to fourth in the league, an FA Cup final and most importantly Champions League glory.