The current situation at Chelsea has raised a lot of questions about the future of the club.
Sanctions put in place by the UK government due to Roman Abramovich’s alleged close links to Vladimir Putin have allowed the club to continue to operate but has restricted them in many other areas, most importantly in regards to transfers and contract renewals.
A number of key players, including Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta are all out of contract in the summer and will either need to be renewed or replaced, both of which are impossible under the current sanctions.
And this summer was also Chelsea’s chance to acquire the long term successor to N’Golo Kante, who has suffered with persistent injuries as of late. Additionally, losing sponsors such as Three leaves an additional financial dint to the loss of Abramovich’s funding.
At the moment Thomas Tuchel seems calm about the situation. He said in his post-match press conference after Chelsea’s 3-1 win against Norwich: “I am still happy to be here and be a manager of a strong football team. I feel privileged.
“We didn’t cause the situation, in the moment it seems like business is more or less protected, but let’s see.”
The situation is ever-changing and a resolution could be found quickly or could get much worse for Chelsea, but if an opportunity does present itself where Tuchel wants to see if the grass is greener elsewhere, Jamie Carragher believes that Manchester United must make a move.
He said in his column with the Telegraph: “No manager wants to be working amid such a background of uncertainty. If he gets the chance to leave for a club of United’s stature, he must take it.”
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It seems unlikely as of now, but if he was to leave, how would he compare to United’s reported top targets Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag?
Tuchel vs Poch
Pochettino is in the unfortunate position of having a very direct and unfavourable comparison with Tuchel, having taken over from the German as Paris Saint-Germain head coach.
Where Pochettino has crashed out of the Champions League in the round of 16 after a transfer window that was dubbed the ‘best of all time’ by many fans, Tuchel reached the final with a ‘weaker’ squad.
And if you use the Graeme Souness argument of putting the medals on the table, Tuchel would win out, with just his Champions League medal at Chelsea weighing heavy against Pochettino’s only trophy of the Coupe de France.
The only defence that Pochettino may have is he is more suited to managing this current iteration of United, but if the rebuild in summer is as serious as fans believe, that isn’t going to be necessary.
Tuchel vs Ten Hag
This is a much harder comparison to make as Ten Hag is an unproven quantity outside of the Netherlands. Both managers’ roots are grounded in the German way of playing, having started in the Bundesliga, but they each have evolved their style far beyond the basics they gained there.
Tuchel is the safe option, he is Premier League proven and is undoubtedly a top-level manager. He is tactically flexible and. with a budget, he would be able to build a team to compete in cup competitions and the Premier League.
But if you’re willing to take the risk and back him behind the scenes, there is arguably a higher ceiling with Ten Hag. Though Chelsea are defensively solid, Tuchel has a problem with how he constructs his attack and he has struggled to get the best out of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Romelu Lukaku.
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If Ten Hag is able to successfully transfer his tactics over from his Ajax side, his style of playing is much more complete and realised, in both defence and attack. Obviously, the risk is there that it doesn’t work and United are left red-faced.
Overall with all the problems we’ve had over the past few years, I’d be inclined to take the risk and see what happens with Ten Hag. But if Tuchel wanted to leave Chelsea he would be a more than suitable option.
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