“1-0 Tuchel at kick-off” – Chelsea legend explains how Blues boss got the better of Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

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·18 April 2021

“1-0 Tuchel at kick-off” – Chelsea legend explains how Blues boss got the better of Pep Guardiola

Article image:“1-0 Tuchel at kick-off” – Chelsea legend explains how Blues boss got the better of Pep Guardiola

Chelsea legend Alan Hudson believes Thomas Tuchel effectively won the FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City before the game had even kicked off.

The Blues ended up booking their place in the FA Cup final thanks to a Hakim Ziyech goal against Pep Guardiola’s side, whose hopes of sealing an historic quadruple were ended with their 1-0 defeat at Wembley.


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Guardiola took a bit of a gamble by rotating his team, with Hudson stating it was a mistake of the City manager to leave out both Phil Foden and Ilkay Gundogan.

Tuchel, by contrast, looked to get his tactics spot-on despite also making some changes, with Hudson full of praise for the German tactician.

“When I saw Werner’s name come up I thought Tuchel had lost the plot,” Hudson told CaughtOffside. “But as it turned out although Werner looked off the pace in simple situations, Tuchel saw him as the ‘kingpin’ behind this victory.

“Here was a perfect case of management and their selections being of such great importance. Werner and Ziyech linked up twice and it should have been 2-0 whereas Pep couldn’t find a way until bringing on young Foden, who should have started.

“1-0 Tuchel at kick-off.

“I am not a great believer in giving players too much time – either they’re good enough or they’re not.

“But Ziyech has had some huge problems with fitness which does affect confidence. These two players – Ziyech and Havertz – remind me of Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, but have more desire.

“There is no telling how much good this victory will do the likes of Havertz and Ziyech. Had they lost it would have been a major setback confidence wise, now they believe they can win both trophies

“As for Werner it’s only the law of averages that when he scores surely he’ll score hatfuls.”

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