The King is dead, long live the King. This traditional proclamation of the transfer of royal power, upon the death of one monarch to his successor, felt like it could have been used at Stamford Bridge last night, given the speed with which the Thomas Tuchel era is now in place at Chelsea. The German coach had a whirlwind 48 hours, by his own admission, only landing in England around 24 hours before the game against Wolves, and thus only able to take charge of one training session before the match. Nevertheless, he was able to stamp enough of his identity on the side, with Chelsea looking and playing quite differently to how they had done under Frank Lampard. It will take some time before Tuchel is able to fully impart his ideas and tactical principles to the squad, but this was a solid base on which to start his reign, so to speak, and Chelsea fans should be encouraged by various aspects of their teams display, even if there is a lot that needs to improve as well.
This tactical analysis pieces will look at three things that Thomas Tuchel did in the game against Wolves which were an improvement over Lampards tactics, while also stating some obvious and immediate areas where improvement is needed as well.
A fixed-yet-flexible shape, in and out of possession
Upon receiving the teamsheet ahead of the game, most observers would have expected Chelsea to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Those, however, who are familiar with Tuchels work, may have sensed that it would actually be a different shape in operation, as proved to be the case when Chelsea took to the field.
In fact, according to Wyscout, Chelsea played in a 4-2-3-1 for the majority of the game, showing how Chelseas shape is still up for debate
It is quite clear that Chelsea had something of a hybrid shape. In possession, the Blues were in a 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 shape, with captain César Azpilicueta tucking infield to play as the third centre-back alongside Thiago Silva and Antonio Rüdiger, while Ben Chilwell and Callum Hudson-Odoi were the wing-backs. Jorginho and Mateo Kovačić formed the midfield pair, with Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz given free roles ahead of them, and behind Olivier Giroud. The teams shape when on the ball can be seen clearly here
We can see the three centre-backs, with the midfie
