It will soon be coming up to a year since Chelsea sacked Frank Lampard and replaced him with Thomas Tuchel.
A lot has happened and changed since then, and that change was emphasised on day one from Tuchel when he dropped Mason Mount and also played Callum Hudson-Odoi as a wing back. The rest as they say, is history.
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One Champions League and successful season later, Chelsea are now defending that crown.
Players have changed as well a lot since then, especially at the back. Andreas Christensen has become a super reliable top class player, and Antonio Rudiger has proven to be indispensable under Tuchel.
But it wasn’t long ago when most Chelsea fans wanted him sold and he was not even looking half the player he is now.
Even former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf admits a u-turn on his opinion on Rudiger, and also compares him to Diego Costa in an interview reported by The Daily Mirror.
Leboeuf said:
“I’m very fond of Rudiger; that guy amazed me because he wasn’t playing anymore and Tuchel believed in him and put him back where Zouma was when everything was good about him and the defence was working well.
“Tuchel put him in and Rudiger became another player.
“Two years ago when I saw him playing I said, ‘He cannot play for Chelsea’ and now look, he’s the main man, everyone hates him.
“He’s a bit like Diego Costa when he was playing for Chelsea.
“He was hated by the rest of the world and that’s the same now for Rudiger because the guy is amazing in defence, he’s a nasty player but when he plays for your club you love it.
“He does well for Chelsea and he does well for Chelsea so I don’t want to see him leave when his contract expires this season.”
