The German coach made a key formation change at half-time to turn the London derby on its head and secure a 3-0 win for the Blues
While Chelsea have undoubtedly found their missing piece on the field in Romelu Lukaku this season, there is no doubt that their ultimate game-changer since the start of 2021 has been Thomas Tuchel.
The German boss certainly has a squad any manager in the world would love to work with at his disposal, but the way in which he has marshalled them since replacing Frank Lampard in January has showcased his supreme coaching ability.
Tottenham on Sunday.
At half-time in north London, it was clear that Nuno Espirito Santo was winning the tactical battle. The Portuguese unveiled an uncharacteristic high-pressing system, unsettling Chelsea’s build-up play while creating opportunities for Spurs’ strong attacking unit.
The Blues were able to lean on some brilliant last-ditch defending from centre-back trio Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger to keep the scores level, but they were undoubtedly on the ropes away to their capital rivals.
Tuchel attempted to fix the problems during the opening 45 minutes, pulling the likes of Lukaku, Kai Havertz and Mason Mount over to the touchline for numerous individual chats.
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But after a half of screaming at his players from the technical area, he deciced a harder reset was needed.
Spurs had dominated the midfield through their powerful holding players, and as such Tuchel took the ruthless decision at half-time to withdraw last season’s Player of the Year, Mount and replace him with N’Golo Kante.
Within seconds, it was apparent that Chelsea had re-exerted control, now possessing three holding midfielders which in turn allowed Tuchel to pushing his wing-backs much higher up the pitch.
Of course, not every team has a squad deep enough to have player of Kante’s quality on the bench, but the masterstroke from Tuchel was the switch from his preferred 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2 formation, and have the confidence to do it so early in the match.