Tuchel finally reveals why he deceived everyone with his 3-5-2 formation against Spurs
Chelsea fans must have been worried after watching the first half game against Tottenham at the Tottenham Stadium. The Spurs team pressed harder and had more intensity and energy than Chelsea in the first half.
However, it was a different ball game in second half as Thomas Tuchel introduced N’Golo Kante in place of Mason Mount. Kate’s introduction changed the game, and it was all Chelsea in the second half.
With Kante, Kovacic and Jorginho all on the pitch, it looked like Tuchel switched tactics to a 3-5-2 shape.
While we all thought the Chelsea manager changed tactics, Tuchel revealed after the game that he only made a swap change and pushed the team to be more aggressive.
Tuchel said: “Actually we did not change the system but that is maybe the whole point. It seemed we changed the system but we just played it with more belief, more energy, more quality, sharper. It was simply too sloppy and not sharp enough in the first half.
“We relied too much on our skilful play in the first half. We forgot to bring the right attitude and energy to this game. There were individual performances at a high level.
“For example, Thiago Silva and Kepa. But as a team, we allowed too many chances, way too many easy ball losses, not enough ball possession, and every 50/50 duel went against us.
“This had to change and, well, if you have N’Golo on the bench and you want to step up in these parts of the game, it’s the best player to bring on because he is unique and can change any momentum.
“So the change appeared to be, in terms of characteristics, a bit more defensive but we wanted to improve our compactness, ball wins, and spirit as a team.
“We wanted a higher intensity and work rate in our match to win balls actively and put the match in the opponent’s half.
“Then we can rely on our skills, that was the idea behind it. The reaction was absolutely needed but we showed it and played a very strong second half to deserve this win.”