It has finally happened.
Chelsea are the champions of the world. Thomas Tuchel has managed a feat Rafael Benitez couldn't when the Blues lost out on the Club World Cup just under 10 years ago. The German has been the key catalyst for success first in Europe and then the world.
Tuchel suffered FA Cup heartache but has delivered the club a second Champions League, their second Super Cup and now the Fifa Club World Cup. Victory is sweet, but it’s even sweeter when you defy all the odds.
Tuchel arrived at Chelsea largely with the brief of steadying a rocky ship that was found lingering in ninth in the Premier League when he took charge. Frank Lampard's exit had been a particularly difficult pill to swallow for supporters but Roman Abramovich has been vindicated for his ruthlessness once again.
Managers such as Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, and former Blues bosses Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti have all had the privilege of winning the Club World Cup. Tuchel sits at the table with these managers knowing that he has achieved the same triumph as his peers in a much shorter timeframe.
As a fan, when we think about the greatest Chelsea manager of all time, the debate starts and ends with Mourinho and Ancelotti. That’s just how it’s always been. Now we must consider giving Tuchel that title due to the cult hero status he has attained by restoring Chelsea to the apex of European football. No other manager has done what he has done for Chelsea - and certainly not in such a short space of time. It has been 13 months of success, barring an FA Cup final hiccup and he is yet to create his own team.
He inherited a Chelsea squad that was a mixture of different things, ranging from academy graduates to expensive purchases with no tangible plan of where to play them to the established core that have been integral to Chelsea's sustained period of success. He had little to no say in the make-up of his squad but has not quibbled about it once. He did not choose the personnel, he wasn’t present when Lampard opted to spend heavily on a new-look attack. Tuchel took on what he was given and made it work. It was like watching water turn into wine right before our eyes.
And by winning tournament after tournament, he is meeting Abramovich's every demand. Now the interesting stuff begins for the Russian who has the opportunity to properly back Tuchel to deliver a first Premier League crown since 2017. We all know that he is quick to pull the trigger when things are not going the right way but this time around he will be tasked with having patience. Prior to winning the Champions League in 2012, Abramovich was desperate to land European football's most coveted prize. After failing to land the global equivalent that winter, Chelsea’s next ambition was to deliver the Club World Cup. And Tuchel has given the club's owner just that.
The onus is now on Abramovich to reward the German boss with a summer transfer window that helps him carve the squad in his own image. Tuchel knew exactly what he was doing with this Chelsea team at this stage of the project, even when there have been some significant low points this term. The build-up toward the Club World Cup turned out to be a particularly difficult storm with the German absent due to Covid-enforced isolation. But even owing to missing the days that led up to the final, Tuchel has been able to instil calm and can add another crucial next step in the trophy haul later this month with victory over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final. It would leave the domestic trophies of the Premier League, FA Cup and Community Shield as the most glaring omissions. He appears well placed to win the latter two given how Chelsea tend to thrive in cup competitions.
But as Manchester City's relentless pace in the Premier League title fight this season has shown, more is needed to secure the main domestic crown and Chelsea will require an injection of funds to push City closer in next season's marathon.
Chelsea’s philosophy is centred around winning trophies and this feels like the most encouraging fit the club have had since Mourinho’s first spell in charge. The stars are aligning for Tuchel to go on and achieve even greater feats with this club.
First up, though, it's on Abramovich to give back to Tuchel and help deliver a transfer window that he deserves.
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