Tuchel already doomed after ‘culling of the kids’

The Culling of the Kids
After Henry Winter claimed Roman Abramovich had ‘shot Bambi‘ when sacking Frank Lampard, we were understandably giddy at the prospect of his Times match report from Chelsea’s dour 0-0 draw with Wolves under Thomas Tuchel. The headline (not written by Winter, we have to clarify) does not disappoint. Indeed, it positively delights:

‘Clock already ticking for Thomas Tuchel after limp opener’

One training session. One game. One point. One utterly ludicrous headline.

What is particularly interesting is that Winter actually wrote the Times match report for Lampard’s first Premier League game too – a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United. And yet he contrived to never mention Lampard’s name once. Presumably the clock was not ticking then.

To be fair to Winter, the headline did not quite reflect his opening line:

‘When the ball flew out of play near Thomas Tuchel midway through the first half, Chelsea’s latest head coach quickly seized a spare, throwing it to Ben Chilwell, trying to quicken the pace, maybe fearing that the clock is already ticking at Stamford Bridge. It usually is.’

Further down the report, we were treated to the usual refrains about Chelsea’s youth policy. After all, this was the man who wrote on Monday that ‘Tuchel had better not mess Mount around’. But mess him around he did, dropping him from the starting line-up.

‘The continuation of the behind-closed-doors protocol meant that the many Chelsea fans disappointed at the absence of so many of their home-grown players from the starting line-up, barring Hudson-Odoi, had to take to social media to voice their frustration at the culling of the kids.’

The ‘culling of the kids’ sounds like the plot of IT but in Winter’s mind, it describes the inclusion of just one Academy graduate in the Chelsea team picked by Thomas Tuchel. This is particularly shocking as this has not happened since – and you may have to wait a minute while we sieve through the archives – January 16 v Fulham, when Frank Lampard included only Mason Mount and left Tammy Abraham, Reece James and Billy Gilmour on the bench.

Indeed, that team Lampard picked against Fulham for Chelsea’s last Premier League victory was almost identical to the one Tuchel picked in his first game, barring two changes: Hudson-Odoi for Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz for Mount. So the ‘culling of the kids’ actually resulted in a younger team.

Shredder
The theme continues elsewhere, with Dave Kidd writing in The Sun about Frank Lampard watching his ‘youth policy put through the shredder by his German successor’.

Apparently it was ‘glaring that Mason Mount and Reece James – the two unqualified success stories of Lampard’s youth promotion tendencies – were on the bench’. Well, it might have been ‘glaring’ that Mount was not included, but James had actually only started two of Chelsea’s last six Premier League games under Lampard. And both were defeats.

In the Daily Mirror, Darren Lewis wrote that ‘N’Golo Kante, unsettled with all the upheaval at Stamford Bridge, was also left out in favour of Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic in front of the back four. Talented midfielder Billy Gilmour, a favourite of Lampard, didn’t even make the squad.’

The idea that Kante was left out because he was ‘unsettled’ is fascinating, but we suspect it was actually connected to the hamstring injury which has stopped him appearing at all since January 3. And as for Gilmour being a ‘favourite of Lampard’; he’s played 34 minutes of Premier League football this season. That’s less than three Lampard ‘favourites’ who have been sent out on loan.

And then Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail:

‘Looking at Tuchel’s starting XI it would be possible to surmise the new man is a proper wind-up merchant – if there were any supporters inside Stamford Bridge to actually wind up.

‘Out went the homegrown young players that are most popular with the locals – Mount, the outstanding player of this season, Reece James, a continued revelation at right back and Tammy Abraham, whose last contribution was a hat-trick.

‘In came Jorginho, Antonio Rudiger, Kai Havertz and Cesar Azpilicueta, at least two of whom had been fingered since Lampard’s departure as having been disruptive behind the scenes. Whatever Tuchel was going for, it wasn’t a popularity contest.’

Again, not including Mount was something of a shock. But describing James as ‘a continued revelation at right back’ when he had actually been dropped by Lampard is disingenuous, as is any surprise at the choice of Giroud over Abraham, who had not scored a Premier League since Boxing Day, after which he was promptly dropped by Lampard.

Also, Havertz has played more than Abraham this season, while Rudiger had started three of Chelsea’s last four games under Lampard. It’s almost like Tuchel did not really change much at all. Maybe he should have changed more, what with Chelsea losing five of their previous eight games.

What does it all mean?
‘What Thomas Tuchel’s first Chelsea lineup means for Mason Mount, Reece James and Timo Werner’ – football.london

That they will play against Burnley on Sunday instead?

FAILED
”The title? Whoah!’: Thomas Tuchel insists Chelsea’s chances of winning the Premier League are GONE and admits they face a battle just to get in the top four after draw against Wolves’ – MailOnline.

GONE? But they’re only 11 points behind Manchester City, who have a game in hand. Unless you are asking that ludicrous question of Mikel Arteta, then asking it of Tuchel is only designed to create the notion that not challenging for the title is somehow FAILURE.

The Damned
‘Rio Ferdinand delivers damning Thomas Tuchel verdict after first game in charge at Chelsea’ – Express website.

“Listen, can’t judge him on this game” – actual Rio Ferdinand.