Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has named Cesar Azpilicueta as a pleasure to coach after his recent achievement of reaching 300 Premier League games for the Blues.
The Spaniard has been a terrific servant at Stamford Bridge for a number of years now, and has won almost everything there is to win in the game with the west London giants.
Chelsea fans will no doubt love hearing Tuchel’s classy comments about Azpilicueta, as he praised the style of leadership he brings to the squad.
“To play 300 matches at that kind of level and to win so many trophies, you deserve it. There is no luck behind it, it is all down to hard work and determination,” Tuchel told Chelsea’s official site.
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“It is a pure pleasure to be his coach. Azpi is so focused, honest, a sports guy and such a competitor. He is so open and focused on his best performances everyday. What you see on a match day is what I see everyday.
“He lives his role. He is maybe not the leader that you would sometimes expect from outside or in general that we as people expect leaders to be – loud and extroverted. He is not this.
“He is very emotional but he is calm, he leads by example. He is not giving speeches every day. When you put him in every single exercise, you know what the level is up to. The captain is in top shape, has had sleep and looks after himself.
“He is a fantastic captain, a great player and just a really good guy too.”
Azpilicueta wasn’t the biggest name when he first joined Chelsea, but he’s proven to be a tremendous signing who’s been key to so much of their success.
Tuchel must be grateful to have a character like Azpilicueta in his squad, as it will no doubt have made his job easier when he took over from Frank Lampard back in January.
The German tactician achieved great success in a short space of time at Chelsea, and having seasoned professionals like Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva around has been a big part of that.