CHELSEA manager Thomas Tuchel insisted “I have a lot of respect” for Ralph Hasenhuttl, stating Saints teams have “his fingerprints are all over” them. The German boss faced Hasenhuttl three times alone last season with an EFL Cup tie in October, the Blues eventually running out winners in all three meetings. As did Hasenhuttl, Tuchel arrived in the Premier League from the Bundesliga – where he was the boss of giants Borussia Dortmund. Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s visit to St Mary’s, Champions League-winner Tuchel reserved some kind words for his Saints counterpart.
Thomas Tuchel said: “I have a lot of respect for Ralph, and we have played against each other a lot of times. He is a very nice person and a very good coach, and his fingerprints are all over this Southampton team every year. He will be very friendly before the match, but during the match, he will not be friendly with us. Don’t make the mistake, he is a competitor as we are. We will fight it out but always with fair play. It will be better to be on the sideline than in the stands.”
Tuchel had been serving a touchline ban after he was sent off during the recent ‘Battle of the Bridge’ – the fiery meeting with Tottenham Hotspur. In the meantime, he has been taking in the performances of Saints as part of his preparations.
Thomas Tuchel added: “I had the chance to watch the game of Southampton (against Manchester United) live and saw a very strong side. They had a huge turnaround at Leicester to win the game, and you could see they gained a lot of confidence from it. They conceded, but they had a lot of touches in the box, a lot of shots against Manchester United and were very mobile upfront. What you can always expect in Southampton is a physical game, a running game, a high-intensity game. This is what it is. We need to recover well and be well prepared to repeat what we did last season.”
With an exit on the cards for Hudson-Odoi, Tuchel has admitted to having conversations with the likes of the winger and others considering a future away from Chelsea.
Thomas Tuchel said: “We do, but it’s maybe human when there is a transfer window. They are not only with us at Cobham. When they leave the building, they have their phone on, and they will get calls, think about their future, their next step, and there is a World Cup coming that everyone talks and thinks about. At the moment, I accept it’s like this. But from September 1, there are no more excuses and no more distractions. I am very, very happy when the transfer window is over because then we have different leverage to push players, and then the commitment has to be 100%, we will not accept 99%. The reality is that sometimes, in the last days of the window, you have to simply accept it no matter what you wish for. It’s the reality.”
Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel says N’Golo Kante’s injury record will have to be considered when talks over a new contract are held with the midfielder. Tuchel has previously compared Kante’s importance to Chelsea akin to that of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain – it’s why there is a will to keep the 31-year-old at Stamford Bridge beyond his current contract, which expires at the end of the current campaign. However, the Chelsea head coach admits that Kante’s injury record can’t be ignored when talks are held.
Thomas Tuchel said: “You cannot. You have to consider everything that is on the table and on the table is his potential, on the table is his influence, and his quality. But also on the table, of course, is his age, his salary and his injury rate. From there you build a whole picture and try to find a solution.”
Kante is currently sidelined with a hamstring issue that is set to keep him out for at least the next four weeks. That is a bitter blow for Chelsea so early into the campaign and Tuchel accepts it’s difficult to challenge for major honours with the France international ruled out so frequently.
Thomas Tuchel said: “This [whether Chelsea can challenge for titles without Kante] is a key question and the answer is maybe no – but we try to. It’s much more difficult because you see the impact he has, you see the impact in the goals that we concede, the amount of goals we score, the amount of points that we have, the amount of goals he makes. He makes players simply better around him. He gives something that is very unique and don’t forget, he also installs confidence that you cannot measure. That’s why he is a key player. But for the key players, it is super important to be on the pitch and to have that impact and be in the rhythm. You can count the matches that he is missing, but what about the first two, three or four matches where he needs to re-find rhythm? Nobody is counting these matches so maybe in real life it is even more than just the matches he is missing. He comes back for the first match from the bench and maybe a second from the bench, and then the third one still a bit struggling with confidence and rhythm. This is basically the story and, yes, we have huge hopes we can turn things around but this was a bad start.”
In final days of the transfer window, Chelsea are not actively pursuing a midfielder that can step in for Kante; a move for Frenkie de Jong is at a standstill with the Netherlands international unwilling to leave Barcelona, who currently owe him around €17million (£14.5 million) in deferred wages.
Thomas Tuchel explained: “I think it’s normal. If you drive home and you call your agent, maybe you speak for half a day about the possibilities that you have, and maybe just thinking about it, not even fully considering it but just hearing the options, is a distraction that you should not have if you compete on the highest level. Like it or not, it is simply like this. Maybe you don’t see it that the player is in a bad mood or does not train well. Everyone is trying hard and the quality in training is high. Even from the guys that are mentioned where rumours are spreading, if they want to leave or should leave and so on. The situation is not ideal but it is not the first time; from 1st September things will calm down. This is the good news. It will calm down and then it will be easiest for us to build an atmosphere and build a certain strength in the group that everybody is really 100% committed, and I don’t mean that in a bad way.”
