“He defended me”- Tuchel reacts to accomplished Dutch manager praising his Chelsea tactics

Thomas Tuchel revealed he was delighted after Louis van Gaal praised him in a press conference

According to Metro, Thomas Tuchel has revealed that he was delighted after Louis van Gaal praised him in a press conference. The veteran coach is back to action with the Netherlands National team who failed to have any impact in Euros 2020 this summer.

Van Gaal was, however, greeted with tough questions earlier this week. The Dutch journalist Valentijn Driessen suggested that the Netherlands team could attempt to play defensive football like Chelsea, but van Gaal cited Tuchel’s tactics at Chelsea to shut him down.

Defensive or not, Thomas Tuchel after taking over the club at Stamford Bridge has done a pretty good job. The German coach did win the Champions League Final against a team who plays attacking football under Pep Guardiola and ensured that the Blues do finish in the top four of the Premier League which they did.

Reacting to van Gaal’s praise, Tuchel via Sky Sports (h/t Metro) said:

“Somebody sent that video to me. It was a pleasure to play against him as a very young coach in Germany when he was at Bayern Munich.

“He has really the balls to speak it out, what he thinks. Sometimes it’s not to his advantage, but I think right now, It’s nice to hear him talk about football. Not just because he defended me in person, which was nice of course, but in general, he is not afraid to speak out.”

While the debate rages on which type of football is deemed to be pure, at the end of the day what matters is who wins the game. It’s not only decided by the ball possession, key passes or chances created. The only statistic pure enough to win the football game is the scoreline which, so far, has tended to favour the Chelsea boss when he has needed it the most.

More Chelsea News

• Report: Chelsea plan to sign 26-year-old Spaniard permanently next summer but on one condition
• Transfer News: Serie A giants lead Chelsea in the race for 21-year-old midfielder starlet
• “Marina was in charge”- Tuchel opens up on Chelsea’s failed summer pursuit of La Liga defender

The Blues are looking strong this season in the Premier League and are unbeaten in their opening 4 fixtures. They are in the race to win the league title this season and will also defend their European crown which they won last season against Man City.