In the footsteps of Jurgen Klopp: Why former PSG boss Thomas Tuchel is ready for Chelsea challenge

Thomas Tuchel has barely been out of work for a month, yet he finds himself on the brink of a new job at a major club.

The German tactician was the victim of sky-high expectations at Paris Saint-Germain and also had a difficult relationship with sporting director Leonardo. Combined with a dismal start to the season, it made for a toxic cocktail that ultimately saw him depart his post.

Now, he is poised to take charge of Chelsea in the Premier League, being the chief benefactor of Frank Lampard’s sacking from the Stamford Bridge club.

Chelsea Football Club has today parted company with Head Coach Frank Lampard.

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 25, 2021

Of course, it represents a challenge, but it is one that Tuchel will embrace as he follows in the footsteps of his mentor, Jurgen Klopp.

While he made the move from Mainz to Dortmund in the fashion of Klopp, his first step out of Germany was a different one as he moved to Ligue 1 as opposed to the Premier League. Klopp, though, remains in charge of the Anfield side, where he took over in 2015.

Tuchel left PSG after just two-and-a-half years. That is not to say that he flopped in France. The 47-year-old won four of six major domestic titles and led Les Parisiens to a first Champions League final.

Thomas Tuchel's PSG spell

PSG’s difficulties in the opening months of the 2020-21 campaign have not been that different from the raft of major clubs around Europe.

Of the traditional title winners, only Bayern Munich are enjoying the same stroll to success that they would have expected in a pre-pandemic world. Most are performing well below the anticipated standard.

Juventus are off the pace in Italy, while Barcelona and Real Madrid’s prospects of lifting the Primera Division appear scant as the season approaches its halfway stage. In England, Manchester City and Liverpool, the dominant forces in recent years, have seen the gap with the other giants close.

PSG were just another side suffering from this trend, with Tuchel’s men trailing Lyon at the winter break. Given that they had been crippled by a combination of injuries and COVID-19 issues in the first part of the season, this was not entirely unexpected.

Even before the new campaign started, the writing seemed to be on the wall for the former Borussia Dortmund boss. His outspoken criticism of Leonardo’s moves in the transfer market served to publicly highlight the problems behind the scenes between the men at the club. It was a wound that even a domestic treble and a charge to the final of the Champions League was insufficient to heal.

Indeed, for a significant portion of his time in Paris, Tuchel found himself swimming against the flow. A coach who likes to employ a high pressing game was not given the tools he needed to exploit this to the maximum. He was not given the support he required from his board either, with Leonardo persistently at odds with him over the club's transfer policy.

Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, for all their outstanding offensive work, are not players to defend from the front. Furthermore, there was a sense that the attacking plan was simply to give the ball to the superstar pair. If that didn’t work, there wasn’t much else.

Although Tuchel was unable to find a solution to these problems, they were not of his making.

Of course, Tuchel has been notoriously awkward to work with throughout his career. He has had a stormy time at Mainz, Dortmund and under PSG's previous sporting director, Antero Henrique.

True ✅ Thomas Tuchel will be the next Manager of Chelsea. He was the favorite since his discharge at @PSG_inside (as reported). Nothing signed at the Moment but agreement in principle

— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) January 25, 2021

What should Chelsea expect of Thomas Tuchel?

It would be wrong to suggest that Thomas Tuchel is a second coming of Jurgen Klopp, as he has often been considered.

There are certainly similarities in the way the pair deploy their teams, but there is little doubt that Tuchel prefers a more patient, possession-orientated game than his mentor. His sides are not as explosive on the counterattack and typically prefer to dictate the game, although they are inevitably attacking and scoring plenty of goals.

Given the toolset at his disposal at Stamford Bridge, it is a mouth-watering prospect for fans of the club.

It should come as a tonic for Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, two high-profile summer arrivals from the Bundesliga, who have struggled to find their feet in England. If Tuchel can unlock the talent of this pair, Chelsea really will be flying.

Across his two spells with Dortmund and PSG, the 47-year-old has won 165 of the 234 games he has managed, showing why he has so quickly found work at another major team.

Having juggled the demands of capricious players and difficult management at PSG, he will arrive at Chelsea more experienced and readier than ever to thrive on the big stage.