Chelsea prove they are ready to compete for major silverware with Man City victory
By Tom Gott
Under Frank Lampard, Chelsea were playing the long game.
The boss regularly dismissed the idea of competing for trophies immediately, deflecting pressure from both himself and his young squad. He wanted time to grow and learn before they started to be taken seriously.
That's not how Thomas Tuchel plays.
"I am here to win titles, I am here to win games and as a result, win titles," he said recently (via the Evening Standard). "This is what I demand of myself so why should we now say anything different? If you want to win in five years or three years, I don’t know what that is. Now is the time."
It was an optimism which had Chelsea fans split, but after he masterminded a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, it soon became clear just why Tuchel believes Chelsea can win now.
Because they can.
From start to finish against City, Chelsea were on top. They stifled Pep Guardiola's men to an extent that we haven't seen in months and looked like they were the ones battling for the quadruple, not City.
Sure, you can argue that the Mancunians weren't at their strongest; Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva all started on the bench, but this was still a City side that boasted Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus, among others. There was real quality in there, and Chelsea made them look like chumps.
Defensively, Chelsea were absolutely excellent, and the midfield duo of Jorginho and N'Golo Kante deserve a lot of credit for that. The pair were absolutely everywhere, and while that's just another day for Kante, it's not the kind of performance we're used to seeing from Jorginho.
Tuchel has turned the Italian into the all-round defensive midfielder Chelsea have long been crying out for. He's obviously still not as solid as a pure anchorman, but he does his best to make up for it with his other skills, and against City, he did exactly that.
Winning teams need performances like this on the biggest stages, and that is what Tuchel is bringing out of Chelsea. In his first few months at the Bridge, he has seen off some of the game's biggest names, and he has done so in convincing fashion.
Tuchel's Chelsea are now favourites to go one step further than Lampard's and win the FA Cup this time around, but the mouth also waters at the possibilities in Europe.
Real Madrid are the next targets in the Champions League, but why shouldn't Chelsea feel confident? They've proven what they can do against elite opposition, and they're seemingly getting stronger every week.
If Los Blancos fall, a date with City in the Champions League final could be on the cards, and Chelsea will know they can win that. They have evidence that they can beat the team most feel are currently the best in Europe.
Chelsea didn't have this feeling under Lampard, who wanted more pragmatism than his balls-to-the-wall style of football might have suggested. Tuchel has flipped the script and has Chelsea dreaming of the possibilities.
There is still a bridge to cross, but with each passing game, Chelsea are taking one more step forward.