Chelsea center-back, Antonio Rüdiger has refused to compare the managerial style of the club’s former coach Frank Lampard to that of the club’s current coach Thomas Tuchel.
Frank Lampard was sacked by Chelsea on 25 January 2021, a day after he led the club to defeat Championship side Luton Town 3-1 in the 4th round of the FA Cup.
Before the victory that preceded his sack, the English tactician recorded a series of inconsistent results, especially in the Premier League. It became so bad that Chelsea fell to the 9th spot on the league table.
Most critics of the former Chelsea star believed that the tactic of the coach was not appropriate for Chelsea that invested over 220 million in signing new players last summer.
After Lampard was sacked, Thomas Tuchel was brought in to replace the Englishman amidst a series of critics who thought that Lampard who coached Chelsea for 18 months was not given enough time.
However, since Tuchel took over, the German tactician has turned the situation of Chelsea around. The club has begun to be more consistent and progress better in the Premier League.
For instance, since Tuchel who was sacked by Paris Saint Germain last summer became the coach of Chelsea, he has helped the club to win four matches and drew one in all competitions.
His input so far has helped the club to move from the 9th spot on the Premier League table to the 5th spot with 39 points in 23 games, a point behind 4th placed Liverpool football club.
The only downside Thomas Tuchel has recorded since he became the coach of the club happened on Thursday, February 12 when Chelsea found it difficult to defeat Championship side Barnsley. Chelsea struggled until the 64th minute before they were able to score the only goal of the match through the boots of Tammy Abraham.
In the era of Frank Lampard, Chelsea would have easily recorded more than two goals against such a lowly rated club. But that has not changed the fact that Chelsea under Tuchel have been recording more positive results than Chelsea under Lampard especially in Lampard’s last 10 games.
However, the improved performance of Chelsea under Tuchel would not force Antonio Rüdiger to compare Lampard’s reign to the current one.
“I don’t even want to go there”, Antonio Rüdiger said after Chelsea defeated Barnsley 1-0 to qualify for the quarter-final stage of the FA Cup.
“Every trainer [manager] is unique”, he added. “From my point of view, I don’t want to make this comparison [between Lampard and Tuchel] and I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Through to the next round – that’s what counts in the cup 🙌🏾⚽ #cleansheet #hustle #alwaysbelieve @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/bvK5rnXh4h
— Antonio Rüdiger (@ToniRuediger) February 11, 2021
Recall that during the reign of Frank Lampard, Antonio Rüdiger was always accused of being a bully to Chelsea’s academic graduates. The 27-year-old Germany international was said to be among the senior players at Chelsea who did not like the fact that Lampard preferred using the club’s graduates over using other players at the club.
However, some of the academic graduates led by Tammy Abraham had since shown support to the German defender via social media, describing him as a “big bro”.
Hearing some mad stuff about @ToniRuediger on social media today. Compete nonsense. Toni is a big bro to all of us
— Tammy Abraham (@tammyabraham) January 26, 2021
So far in the 2020-2021 season, Antonio Rüdiger has made just 8 Premier League appearances. While he has made 14 appearances in all competitions.
