圖赫爾：最高級別的對決是我們夢寐以求的 - 切爾西足球俱樂部 Chelsea Football Club

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/04/26/
tuchel--the-challenge-is-to-be-ourselves

Tuchel: The challenge is to be ourselves

26 Apr 2021


Thomas Tuchel says there is no need to change anything for our Champions
League semi-final, as the only way to succeed at the highest level is to
keep playing to our strengths.


https://i.imgur.com/0P4cOH0.jpg


We travel to Spain to face Real Madrid in the first leg of the last-four
tie tomorrow, in arguably our biggest game of the season so far.


Against such a difficult and experienced side in a match on the biggest
stage, the temptation is always there to focus your game on countering
your opponents' strengths.


However, Tuchel believes it is exactly the opposite approach that is
needed, remembering what we are good at and trusting the methods that got
us this far in the Champions League to begin with.


'Be ourselves, that is the strategy once you arrive here,' he explained.
'The higher you climb on the level, the more you have to rely on yourself,
rely on your strengths and do the things that make you comfortable, which
are proven that they work, and we have these things as a team.


https://i.imgur.com/Me3fINy.jpg


'This is what we try to do on the best level, there is no other approach
for a match like this. Hopefully we don't overthink it, we don't want to
overdo it. The challenge is to be ourselves and to be the best version of
ourselves for 90 minutes tomorrow.'


One of the things which has served us so well during our run to the
semi-finals, as well as in domestic competition, has been our excellent
defensive record, having conceded just three goals in our 10 European
matches so far this season.


With seven Champions League clean sheets to our name, our German head coch
explained what it is that makes this Chelsea side so hard to score
against.


'The most important things are the quality and commitment of the players,'
said Tuchel. 'Quality explains itself. Commitment is being ready to do the
things which are necessary to help your team-mates, cover your team-mate
when he's going into a challenge.


'Playing your role 100 per cent reliably, this is commitment. Can the
defensive guys rely on midfielders? Can the midfielders rely on the
strikers? This is the huge effort that we put into the games, physically,
and into defending.


'Then the next thing is courage. We play very brave, we defend up front.
Never forget, sometimes it is the best defence to have the ball, so it
comes also down to quality of ball possession, quality of
counter-pressing. For good counter-pressing you need to be brave high up
the pitch, you need to position yourselves very disciplined to not allow
counter-attacks.


https://i.imgur.com/ACkg2zt.jpg
Edouard Mendy has only conceded once in four Champions League games under
Tuchel


'It is also about commitment to block shots and to really have the
mentality to not allow shots on goal. Then we have good goalkeepers.


'We are very happy with the number of chances we concede because we
produce these numbers regularly and the clean sheets feel well-deserved.
It's like attacking, it's a team effort and it will always stay like this
in football, which is the good thing about it, and we are ready to try for
another clean sheet tomorrow.'


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https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/04/27/
tuchel--this-is-what-we-all-dream-about

Tuchel: This is what we all dream about

27 Apr 2021


Thomas Tuchel has been reflecting on the incredible journey he has taken
from part-time academy coaching to being in charge of worthy Champions
League semi-finalists.


https://i.imgur.com/m9Jmo0B.jpg


The German joined Chelsea as head coach between the end of this season's
group stage and the start of the knockout rounds, before guiding us past
Atletico Madrid and Porto and into the last four.


That means it is the team's journey through the Champions League this
season, as well as his own, which is on his mind in the build-up to the
first leg against Real Madrid, and he is in no doubt we have proven we
belong at this high level.


'We deserve to be in the semi-finals, like Real Madrid deserve to be in
the semi-finals,' he said. 'We deserve it because we came a long way. I
had the luck to be part of it since the start of the knockout phase and
all the teams in the semi-finals have come a long way. They fought their
way through in the toughest competition in Europe.


https://i.imgur.com/45a45YF.jpg


'Right now we deserve through the competition to be here, and that's why
we are full of confidence and looking forward to playing these matches at
the highest level. This is what we all dream about.'


However, when it comes to himself, there is no feeling of belonging at
this level by right or taking things for granted.


Having worked his way up from coaching youth football in Germany to
consecutive Champions League semi-finals as a manager, first with Paris
Saint-Germain and now Chelsea, he has learned to appreciate how privileged
he is just to be involved in the professional game, let alone such
high-profile matches.


'I'm a pretty lucky man, I know this and I'm very grateful and thankful
for all the luck that I've had and all the people at my side who pushed
me, who believed in me and gave me all the experience that I had and that
made me into the coach that I am today.


'When I started in academy football, every day was a gift and I enjoyed
every day with my Under-14s in Stuttgart. Later it was the Under-15s and
then it became the Under-19s and then it was the step to only be the coach
of Mainz, being full-time in charge and not needing to work any other job.
I could never imagine that someone in the Bundesliga would have the guts
and the courage to let me coach a first division team, because that was
very unusual without me having played a game at the very highest level.


https://i.imgur.com/0izcjVr.jpg
Tuchel triumphed in last season's semi-finals with Paris Saint-Germain


'So I'm grateful, but on the other hand it always felt very natural and
right to be in that place. Not because I felt I deserved it, but just
because it came naturally to me and I'm very grateful to all the people
that helped me, of course first of all my family, and then everybody
around me in coaching, in the academies and on my way through professional
football.'


Tuchel also admitted that in those early days he never imagined his career
could take him so far, not just because these heights seemed so far away,
but because he spends so much time in his job worrying about the
day-to-day and the next game, there was little time left to waste on
dreaming.


'Honestly I have every week a lot of doubts about what we do, how we play
and whether we can keep the momentum going, so I've never had thoughts
about where I could end up. Like I said, I'm very grateful for having the
possibility to experience this high level and to arrive tonight with such
a great club and a great team in the semi-finals of the Champions League
again.


'It's the second time I've been here but I'm far from taking it for
granted and far from thinking this is where I belong and this is what I
deserve. I'm a lucky man and I'm very happy to be here, but it's an
obligation at the same time, to give my very best and be fully focused on
tonight.'

--


Burrell: "If the Gods are fucking you, you find a way to fuck them back.
It's Baltimore, gentlemen. The Gods will not save you."

- The Wire Season 3 Episode 3

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