Roman Abramovich bold Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Chelsea call sets new Thomas Tuchel trend
One of Thomas Tuchel's beloved predecessors in the Stamford Bridge dugout would have probably
sympathised with the German when judging the fallout from Romelu Lukaku's controversial
interview with Sky Italia last month.
Carlo Ancelotti had to contend with a Chelsea icon testing his leadership back in 2010.
Ancelotti reflected on the event in his 2016 book "Quiet Leadership".
The Italian detailed how delicate these situations are.
"There will always come a time when a player wants to test you, and then you are forced
to weigh your principles against expediency."
This awkward test was handed to Ancelotti when Didier Drogba arrived thirty minutes
late to a pre-match team meeting ahead of a game against Aston Villa.
This situation came with only seven league games to play, and Drogba was chasing down
the golden boot as a tense title race with Manchester United unfolded.
Drogba was a senior figure with outstanding and talismanic qualities that Ancelotti needed.
But the Italian didn't play him, not because he was upset, but because everyone in his
squad had to be present for his tactical meeting.
"I couldn't allow Drobga special consideration, and nobody was allowed to miss this meeting."
Chelsea went on to win 7-1 without Drogba, and his replacement Nicolas Anelka played
well and kept his place for the trip to Old Trafford a week later, where Drogba would
come off the bench to score a vital second.
"Sometimes, these incidents go beyond being mere testing and become unacceptable.
The players must know where the line is, as you cannot expect people to accept the rules
if they don't know what they are."
Ancelotti won the battle, Drogba went on to win the Golden Boot, and Chelsea won the Premier
League.
Tuchel might not be lifting the same prize come May, but the battle of control won after
the Lukaku interview feels most relevant here in the long term.
A more recent reference point is Mikel Arteta's call to drop Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from
his Arsenal squad after a disciplinary breach which swiftly led to the Gabonese being stripped
of the captaincy.
Comparisons were made between Aubameyang and Lukaku, but even the harshest of Lukaku's
critics would have to concede the Arsenal forward's repeated breaches of trust are far
more severe and consistent.
However, Arteta's call and backing from above only helped strengthen his power as head coach.
Across London, Chelsea's reaction to internal scuffles like this has previously undermined
the coach's power, being one of a series of events that inevitably lead to their departure.
Antonio Conte's fallouts with Diego Costa, David Luiz and Willian, Maurizio Sarri with
Kepa Arrizabalaga and Frank Lampard with Marcos Alonso.
For whatever your views on what the Belgian actually said, the week that followed was
going to be vital for Tuchel's leadership of a squad suffering the strain of a testing
winter and some poor results.
Like Ancelotti, Tuchel came to the same conclusion and dropped his striker for the meeting with
Liverpool.
Chelsea's fightback from a bleak situation against a title rival injected a sense of
energy back into the Blues season.
It reflected well on the character within the squad and how they responded to adversity.
Tuchel's charismatic antics on the touchline and buoyant support from Stamford Bridge faithful
were felt beyond Fulham Road.
Two days later, Tuchel was addressing the media in suave fashion.
Lukaku did an in-house interview days later with the club's media team to clarify his
comments and apologise for upsetting his own supporters.
Matt Law of The Telegraph's report probably added the most defining signal of where the
power lay in this case with both Marina Granovskaia and owner Roman Abramovich believed to have
backed Tuchel over his disciplinary stance.
Tuchel's control of the squad had not been undermined, only boosted.
After Chelsea's enthralling draw with Liverpool, there was a comfortable 2-0 win over bitter
rivals Spurs in a good performance with Lukaku reintegrated.
One week later, Lukaku played again in the second leg win over the same opponent that
secured a place at Wembley next month.
Tuchel now appears to have rediscovered Chelsea's expression in a period where a crisis has
engulfed the previous seasons, demonstrating how culturally right he is for Abramovich's
Chelsea.
The experiences Tuchel has had in PSG seem like they've been a very good learning curve
in how to sort said individual problems in his squad dynamics.