Thomas Tuchel’s innovative training methods used at Chelsea | OneFootball

Will Thomas Tuchel still be Chelsea’s manager at the start of the 2022-23 season?

The German coach has enhanced his reputation in recent weeks, since Roman Abramovich announced he was selling the club, with a series of impressive press conferences and interviews.

Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner was then sanctioned by the UK government – a situation which leaves the Blues facing an uncertain future.

Recent reports suggest Manchester United are considering making an audacious move to lure Tuchel to Old Trafford in the event that he decides to leave Stamford Bridge.

Tuchel is one of several candidates on United’s shortlist, which also includes Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag.

Since replacing Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager in January 2021, Tuchel has cemented his status as one of the world’s best managers.

The 48-year-old won the Champions League just four months into the role and then lifted the Super Cup last August.

It’s remarkable how quickly Tuchel managed to transform Chelsea’s fortunes. The Blues were ninth in the Premier League table when he arrived, having won just one of their previous five league fixtures.

But what was the secret behind Tuchel’s immediate success?

What are Thomas Tuchel’s innovative training methods?

Well, his innovative and slightly unusual training methods appeared to have the desired effect on his squad.

Chelsea’s players were seen training with mini footballs, rather than the standard size 5s, in order to help improve their control and the accuracy of their tackles.

When the players returned to playing with a regular-size ball, smaller goals were introduced to make it more challenging for the team to score.

The team’s goalkeepers, Edouard Mendy and Kepa Arrizabalaga, have also been barged with a rucking shield by Petr Cech, presumably in an attempt to help them feel more confident when under pressure from opponents during set-pieces and crosses.

Tuchel, according to an article published by The Athletic, likes to make his training sessions as difficult and challenging as possible.

The former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain head coach is also known to make his players train on pitches with no width or depth.

Furthermore, he players are sometimes asked to hold tennis balls while they play in order to stop them grappling with opponents.

There have even been times when Tuchel has cut off the corners to turn the final third of the pitch into a triangular shape, to encourage the team to play more vertically.

And he has been known to make his team train on slippery surfaces.

The big question is: why? What’s the purpose of these unusual training methods?

The Athletic’s Rafael Honigstein wrote that Tuchel wants training to be so tough and mentally exhausting that actual competitive games seem easy in comparison.

It’s an interesting tactic and one which seems to have paid off very nicely for Tuchel since his arrival in England.