Chelsea ace Edouard Mendy hails Thomas Tuchel and reveals ‘very expressive’ new boss has boosted players’ confidence
EDOUARD MENDY hailed ‘very expressive’ new Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel for boosting confidence within the squad.
The German manager replaced Frank Lampard in the Stamford Bridge dugout at the end of January.
Since then, the Blues have won six and drawn two of his eight matches in charge.
And the ex-Rennes stopper, 28, heaped praise on Tuchel for getting the best out of the players again.
He said: “We know what he wants so when we are on the pitch we have to show why he has chosen us.
“It’s very positive for all the players because he gives us a lot of confidence and we need to improve and to play great football when we are on the pitch.
“He is very expressive. He shows when he likes something when you did well on the pitch. Every day at training and in the game, he pushes you.
“He stays positive but he also shows his determination and that is good for me and the team.”
Tuchel had his fair share of confrontations at Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain – often due to his motivational and training methods.
But it is so far, so good in West London.
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Chelsea are just two points off the top four with 13 games to go and only behind Manchester City in the form table.
They face a home tie against Sheffield United in the FA Cup quarter-finals while a draw at the Bridge against Atletico Madrid will put them into the last eight of the Champions League following a 1-0 win in the ‘away’ leg in Romania.
Before the second leg, though, Tuchel’s side face a tough run with Manchester United at home on Sunday, Liverpool away on Thursday, Everton at home the following Monday and then a trip to Leeds on March 13.
But Mendy, who has sealed his place as No1 choice goalkeeper under the new manager, insists the players are thriving in their pursuit of success.
He added: “We work for that. We work to win every game and yes we are still near the top of the league, we have a second leg against Atletico and yes we want more. To win every game. And we work for that.
“Man United is a very tough game. We remember the first game. It was very tough. This team plays very well.
“We play at Stamford Bridge so we have to show that we want to win this game because it’s a really important game for the league.”
