Tuchel on finding the correct balance

Thomas Tuchel in the dugout during Chelsea's 1-0 victory away to Barnsley in the FA Cup

Thomas Tuchel states that the key in helping this Chelsea team will be for him to introduce new ideas without the players being overworked or overloaded throughout a hectic season.

In a spell which is typical of the current campaign, Chelsea booked their place in the quarter finals of the FA Cup with a victory over Barnsley on Thursday night and return to action in the premier league at home to Newcastle United, which leaves just three days between matches to recuperate and recover.

Though the lack of training time will be frustrating for Tuchel whilst trying to get to know his players midway through the season, the German feels that a higher number of games provides an opportunity to see what they are able to do on the pitch, even if he has to be careful with how much work he will have to do with them at Cobham.

Tuchel went onto state 'Every manager in the world aspires to have four weeks with his new team to get to know the players characteristics, habits and characters but did not'. 'Maybe a positive thing is that we didn't have the time to think about it. It was extremely beneficial as we had played a lot of games because during matches you get to know your team very well. In games the boys are able to show their spirit of competition, the mentality and you can pretty much see everything.'

'At the current stage we are begin to learn and trust each other whilst we are in one of Europe's toughest competition and this is a brilliant experience but there is not another way at the moment. There's lots of spaces in which we can improve, we have given ourselves a few days to prepare for our next game and we will use them.'

'This is always a balance something which we think about whilst were training at Cobham. the questions which are often asked are how much training do we do with the players? how much information do we provide them with? to be honest less is more. There's always the constant management for us to deal with the training sessions, with the input, support or we sometimes just leave them alone and allow them to process the movements, the new approach or their individual performances. It will be similar next month also, we will always think about how much we are able to provide the team with and what would be considered an overload.'

Games such as Thursday night's victory over Barnsley , where Chelsea win without looking at their best , also show the requirement for another balance, between ensuring that the players are aware of the standards expected and required of them whilst being provided with both a positive and trusting atmosphere required in order for them to perform at their best.

Tuchel further stated 'You do not need to be harsh nor too strict, but need to make things clear that there are things which we could improve on during our game on Thursday against Barnsley.' 'So we will be honest with them and tell the truth and will allow ourselves to be honest if we don't like the performance. If we are to do things better we will be able to show them no matter what the result is. To put it the other way round , if we play brilliantly in a game and don't win then we will allow ourselves to show the good picture.'

'There are certain things which we have to do better. We will allow ourselves to focus on these details as I don't want to be to harsh in general and will continue sticking to the plan as we have had difficult circumstances. So we will put more focus on the details and help the players to understand what we can improve on and then we will prepare for Monday's game against Newcastle which will be a very difficult challenge.'

A key factor which is definitely proving beneficial for Tuchel during his busy reign as Chelsea head coach is the current squad depth, as shown in the FA Cup game against Barnsley when N'Golo Kante and Billy Gilmour replaced both Jorginho and Kovacic in the midfield.

However, Tuchel says that by having these options at his disposal , with 3 established international players as well as a promising young player fighting for two spots in the starting line-up is essential to competing at footballs highest level.

Tuchel will be happy to have the likes of Billy Gilmour in order to boost his options in midfield

'For me I think that three is more than enough for two positions. It then makes selection more of a difficulty because it means that everyone is on board and everyone is available. If we have to make any difficult decisions then everything is all good. It is my job then to manage them as well as putting trust in the guys coming of the bench.'

'It is mathematically impossible to achieve our goals as a club with 11-13 players, so to be able to have three guys for two positions is a big present for me. At this present moment to have a talented guy like Billy Gilmour is absolutely key at this level, with what we expect from ourselves and what the supporters and the club accept from my team.'

'So we need this kind of quality and i am not concerned about the management as I feel that I have a strong group. I feel there is a bond between the players. We have to show that we are a strong group when things start becoming difficult, but I feel so far that we have an excellent atmosphere and it is my responsibility as head coach to create a special atmosphere and bond between the players. The players can still be competitive with each other , but we need to rally and be close and understand that this is a team effort.'

For more articles on news relating to Chelsea Football Club please visit my twitter account 

Link - Follow Chelsea (@FollowChelsea4) / Twitter