Thomas Tuchel matched Chelsea’s records set by Luiz Felipe Scolari and Jose Mourinho, extending his unbeaten start as Blues boss to 12 games.
Goalless draw with Leeds on Saturday evening
The German tactician has yet to come as he inherited the management reins of Stamford Bridge from Frank Lampard. His last run brought a 0-0 draw with Leeds on Elland Road, with notable marks for avoiding defeat and another clean sheet. The 12-game win-win start in Chelsea’s hot seat is the best any Blues boss has achieved since stepping into one of the most demanding roles ever. Scolari succeeded in this feat in 2008, when the Brazilian made a positive discovery for his reign in west London. It won’t be there by February 2009 as early progress quickly eroded, but Tuchel will have a much better time to come when it closes in Stamford Bridge history. In securing a draw against Leeds, Tuchel has now seen his Chelsea side collect 10 clean sheets from 12 games. Sheffield United and Southampton are the only sides to have broken through the Blues, with the kind of effort that comes in games that Tuchel still took four points from. Only three-time Premier League title holder Mourinho can claim to have met that defensive record during his time on Bridge. Arriving in English football back in 2004, the enigmatic Portuguese quickly made it difficult for the Chelsea team to break down and lost just two times through his first 10 top fixtures.
Tuchel hoped for more
When sending your side into battle against Leeds, with the chances of falling on the way of Kai Havertz on Elland Road. He was, however, happy to take another point that kept Chelsea in the top four. He said: “We had enough chances to score. It was a normal game, sometimes hard to score. It’s not that you get what you want, and we have to keep working hard and be more accurate in the box of opponents. It wasn’t so pleasant to play and the service wasn’t in good shape. Our time is in the last 20 minutes – we need to be more clinical. We put a lot of skills into the ball, so we got tired too when we got into good positions.”