Thomas Tuchel has basically been perfect for Chelsea since coming to the club.
Both in his conduct, his tactical acumen and his management of the squad, he’s been outstanding, and praised widely and lavishly by fans and pundits alike.
He got things wrong today against Man City however, and Blues fans on Twitter debated to what extent he’d messed up.
Nobody is being too harsh – we all appreciate he’s brilliant. But there’s no doubt that today things didn’t go his way. Circumstances didn’t help either – Thiago Silva wasn’t fit to start, then Reece James went off injured, meaning a double shift to his ideal formation and from what was presumably game planned during the week.
One fan claimed Tuchel “got that all wrong,” but there’s also the reality that Man City are a top team who played incredibly well.
You can see a selection of the reaction in the Tweets embedded here:
@ManCity the first team to prevent Thomas Tuchel's @ChelseaFC from registering a single shot on target since he took charge. 🥵 pic.twitter.com/ePnybbLSzN
— izay man (@izayofori) September 25, 2021
We allowed City to play. It was frustrating. I want to hear what Tuchel thinks now.
– Meeds
— Chessy Hour® ☆☆ (@ChessyHour) September 25, 2021
Tuchel played it too safe. This loss is 100% on him
— Akorede (@Mr_Akorede) September 25, 2021
Tuchel to fight another day probably#CHEMCI #PL #MatchDay pic.twitter.com/aDdzqxjiXT
— BENNIE (@BENJIZEE) September 25, 2021
https://twitter.com/CFCburner/status/1441760020522278912
Well Tuchel just destroyed ma week to watch other matches.
— Randy_Boahene (@Luxury_Randy) September 25, 2021
Still trust Tuchel
— The Shade (@IAMShadyB) September 25, 2021
https://twitter.com/k33t1k/status/1441760442892750848
Tuchel got that all wrong today. Almost impossible to criticise him up until now but 1 shot in the entire first half and no change to bring on some quality/revert the tactics until Chelsea concede was poor considering what was on the bench.
— James Ridley (@jeridley1) September 25, 2021
Poor performance and poor management from Tuchel. He doesn't get it wrong very often, but today he did.
We had two attackers and somehow expected us to score a goal being fed off scraps?
Please never play 352 again.
— BlueTweetsFC™ (@BlueTweetsFC) September 25, 2021
I love Tuchel so, so much. On form he’s been the best manager in the world lately, getting the better of Pep on multiple occasions.
But today Pep got the better of him.
— Alex Goldberg (@AlexGoldberg_) September 25, 2021
commence the results-based punditry!
— Dávid Pásztor (@D_Peezy) September 25, 2021
https://twitter.com/JoeTweedie/status/1441757456737226756
Call a spade a spade: We’ve been terrible. Completely fine to take a loss or draw. No ideas. 2/10 game plan. 6/10 execution.
— Nick Verlaney ⭐️⭐️ (@nickverlaney) September 25, 2021
Tuchel has been phenomenal with his tactical decisions since the time he took charge of Chelsea. But I wonder if today's result could've been different if we played the way we did after conceding the goal? As soon as we pushed the gas pedal, we started creating issues for City
— Nouman (@nomifooty) September 25, 2021
It will be unethical for Tuchel to beat Pep 4 times consecutively. Where’s the sportsmanship in that? #CHEMCI 👀😂
— Olamilekan Merit (@meritdee) September 25, 2021
I expected and got a battle of the Managers but Thomas Tuchel is not at the levél of Pep Guardiila tactically and we saw that in this game. Tuchel took a bold approach today
where role and function was paramount going into this game and paid dearly for that hap hazard approach. Past victories against City apparently made him overconfident and that emotion proved his ondoing. Thank you Mendy for saving us.