It’s quite incredible to think that Thomas Tuchel has still to taste defeat as the manager of Chelsea Football Club.
The German was ushered in as Frank Lampard departed with no one really knowing just what kind of fit the German might be for the Blues.
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Just a couple of months later, he’s already answered that question emphatically, but not everyone is happy about his arrival.
Aside from an injury which has kept him sidelined, Tuchel hasn’t leant on Tammy Abraham as much as his predecessor did.
However, the youngster is very much part of his plans and he doesn’t want Abraham to lose faith in his ability.
“We had some talks to encourage him to never give in, to accept the situation, to not overthink it, to just come back to the situation where the striker must not overthink it,” Tuchel was quoted as saying by the Daily Express.
“He just needs to be in the flow and if the team is winning without him then you can feel a little bit excluded.
“But it’s not like this with him so hopefully he can be back now, back in the squad, be totally free and there’s some hard choices and he’s a part of the group.
“It’s been hard for him because he’s never felt fully free, never felt fully painless after this tackle (against Newcastle), so it was hard for him to really perform on the level that you need to perform in training to convince your coach to leave somebody else out.
“In the moment where we left him out, it was a strong decision, we had other options on the bench.”
It’s great man-management by the German who has very definitely left the ball in the strikers court.
Abraham needs to get back to what he does best, and when he does so he’ll be afforded the opportunities he craves.
Can’t say fairer than that.