Tuchel’s individualised roles takes advantage at Tottenham

Thursday night saw Chelsea’s first “big” match under Thomas Tuchel, although Tottenham under Mourinho isn’t probably the same sort of calibre as Manchester City in style of play.

He lined up differently this time, ridding the back 4 to a definitive back 3/5 both in possession and out of it and Mason Mount coming as a solo 10 (rather than the two 10s as we’ve been seeing in the last two games), making it harder to defend and allowing Callum Hudson-Odoi to break through easier. Both Timo Werner and Hudson-Odoi were fulfilling striker roles.

Ultimately Tuchel’s basic structure was the same as we’ve seen so far and we can see his strength shine through his line ups; individualising roles for players within his structure.

For instance, if we take a look at Cesar Azpilicueta in Tuchel’s past two games, he was playing in a more classic back 3 building up as a half-back but against Tottenham, he was utilised in a hybrid role with him advancing in a wider and higher position on the pitch. This adjustment gets the best out of him, being a full back without the hinderance of running up and down the line all the time. More like a play-making full back rather than a classic wing back; such as Reece James. Azpilicueta’s role also allowed James to push up the pitch without interfering the build up play as the…