Thomas Tuchel oversaw a stale 0-0 draw against Wolves in his first match as Chelsea head coach, just 24 hours after being officially being announced as head coach of the club.
The German took over from Frank Lampard who was sacked on Monday and saw his new team frustrated by a compact Wolves side.
Despite the result meaning the Blues now only have one win from their last six matches, Tuchel was pleased with what he saw on the pitch: ‘I will not allow anyone to be frustrated, it was a good performance, we did not allow counter-attacks, I’m very happy with the energy and attitude and we will look to continue from now on.
‘If this was the first step in our development, I’m optimistic to see where we will end up,’ said the German.
Tuchel started with a 3-4-3 formation and elected to field an experienced starting line-up having only had one training session with the squad before the match.
Despite having 79 per cent possession Chelsea failed to convert it into chances and goals throughout the game.
Ben Chilwell and Leander Dendonker had the only chances in the first half, which produced zero shots on target, with both players seeing their efforts fly comfortably wide from inside the penalty box.
Wolves continued to frustrate the Blues by sitting back in the second half, however the visitors showed slightly more attacking intent and almost took the lead against the run of play when Pedro Neto’s audacious chip clipped the top of the bar to save Edouard Mendy’s blushes.
Tuchel raised eyebrows by dropping Mason Mount to the bench – who was the first name on the teamsheet when Lampard was in charge. However, the English midfielder sparked more attacking flair in the team when called upon in the second half as Chelsea pushed for a winner late on.
Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic saw his curling shot from range go narrowly wide with Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio struggling to get across.
Tuchel’s new system also saw Callum Hudson-Odoi deployed as a wing-back and the English winger recorded Chelsea’s first notable shot on target in the 85th minute when he saw his deflected effort well-saved by the Wolves keeper.
Mount then turned the Wolves defence and got in behind before putting in a tantalising low-cross which Willy Boly did well to clear as Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham awaited a tap in.
Kai Havertz had a chance at the death to steal all three points with his header destined for the top corner only for the visitors’ new signing Willian Jose to block and earn Wolves a valuable point.
By Sajidur Rahman
