Thomas Tuchel's fan club at Manchester United has a second member after Paul Scholes urged the Chelsea boss to succeed Ralf Rangnick and take over at Old Trafford. Scholes echoed former rival Jamie Carragher’s stance on bringing the German to United and capitalising on the current situation at Chelsea. But there’s just one minor factor standing in the way.
Tuchel is currently showing no signs that he would want to leave Chelsea and Chelsea are certainly not looking to allow him to depart. The last couple of weeks have been far from ideal for the Chelsea faithful against a pretty bleak backdrop. Amid the sanctions imposed on owner Roman Abramovich, a siege mentality has been created among the fans and it feels very much like Chelsea against the world, a situation added to by the Middlesbrough ticketing episode.
And the idea that he might be interested in the project (complete and utter reset) at Old Trafford looks like a pretty ambitious suggestion off the back of last night's desperate 1-0 defeat (2-1 on aggregate) to Atletico Madrid that saw United's trophy drought continue. Champions League nights are for the best teams in Europe to fight it out to eventually be named as the best on the continent. Chelsea still hold that title and look well-placed to defend their crown. Manchester United have not been able to claim such status since 2008.
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Chelsea fans won't want to be reminded of that particular final too much but will revel in the fact that since United’s last Champions League triumph at the Blues' expense in Moscow, Chelsea have lifted the prestigious trophy twice. Taking this into account alone, it’s peculiar that pundits believe United can take advantage of the current situation to just pluck him from our grasp.
Scholes loves the phrase: 'This is Manchester United we're talking about'. It was peddled out on multiple occasions last night to suggest any manager in world football save for perhaps Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp would be keen on taking up the challenge of restoring United to their former glories. He's someone who deserves respect for the career he had as one of the most intelligent midfielders that the game has seen. But his belief that Tuchel would jump ship to a club not guaranteed of Champions League football next season now is, at best, fanciful.
“They need a top-class coach. I’d go for Conte or Tuchel, which now looks possible at the end of the year. Those two are top class elite coaches, who strike fear into players and win,” he said on BT Sport. I’m not sure what is more amusing here, the confidence of acquiring Tuchel’s services at the end of the season or an ex-Manchester United player yearning for a former Chelsea manager and a current one. In other words, proven winners.
The phrase 'We are Man United' doesn’t hold as much weight as it used to for the younger generation of fans. Their history is superb and unprecedented in English football but the present is extremely telling. Failing to beat Diego Simeone’s press-resistant side isn’t for everybody after all, particularly if you don't have Tuchel leading the orchestra.
They’re an extremely difficult side to break down but the Blues were able to do it exactly one year ago to this day in their comfortable round-of-16 Champions League win. And they didn’t have Cristiano Ronaldo either. The hunger and quality from every single player on the pitch gave Chelsea the upper hand in that tie, sending them through to what would ultimately prove to be a path to greatness.
I can certainly understand why Scholes would want to see Tuchel in the United dugout. He squeezes every last bit of potential out of his players. He would work wonders with some of the talented players that do exist within that team if he was in charge at Old Trafford. His attributes as a coach are rare to find in Europe currently and there are arguably only a handful of managers who he would fail to hold a candle to.
Admittedly, the Blues are in a bit of trouble. It’s not every day that a club is rightfully seized by the UK government. We are in unchartered territory and amid a number of moguls competing to purchase the club, it is difficult to project too much on the Blues' future.
We will have to endure any punishment that comes our way, whether that's the inability to sign players, renegotiate contracts or even use private flights to travel to games. But amid some pretty choppy waters in recent weeks, there has been one ray of light and that has been Tuchel making it crystal clear that he is willing to stay and weather the storm with us.
It would be a surprise if any prospective new owner was not smart enough to recognise that one of Chelsea fans' biggest wishes in all of this is for Tuchel to remain where he is. Clubs as big as Manchester United may come knocking but the call should not be answered. Not that he'd be minded to answer anyway given the mess they find themselves in.
