The first goal of the Thomas Tuchel Era arrived in its second game, and it arrived from a rather unlikely source. César Azpilicueta may have recently cracked the 400-apperance mark to etch his name into the legend-book already, but (scoring) goals are not exactly his forte.
His strike yesterday was just the 14th goal of his (often quietly) brilliant Chelsea career, and just his 9th in 282 Premier League appearances. Indeed, a bit of a collector’s item.
Of course, as with any goalscorer usually, especially one wearing the captain’s armband, the individual achievement pales in comparison to the collective achievement. And that’s where Azpilicueta sees plenty of promise, even this season still.
“We are far from where we want but we know that with the new manager, we have the second half of the season to play and everything to play for.”
-César Azpilicueta; source: BT Sport via Football.London
Expecting miracles and an immediate turnaround just from a managerial change is often misguided, and that’s true in Tuchel’s case as well. However, the new manager seems to be willing to give every player a chance as he explores the various options in the squad, and that’s a pretty good place to start if we are to find significant improvement and a turning point for the season ahead.
“Everybody in the squad is important, everyone has started from zero with the new manager and we have to keep the competition. It’s healthy and it gives everybody the opportunity to give their maximum to get into the team.”
-César Azpilicueta; source: BT Sport via Mail
And that’s also where individual responsibility and individual ambition comes in. Top-four finish, deep cup runs, the focus must be there, matching our quality.
“That’s our DNA, we always play to win. It’s true that sometimes, even this season, we didn’t have our best run but Chelsea deserves to be fighting for everything. If we are not there, it is because we did not deserve to be higher in the table.”
-César Azpilicueta; source: BT Sport via Football.London
So say we all.