Paul Merson gushes with praise for Chelsea FC boss Thomas Tuchel

Paul Merson gushes with praise for Chelsea FC boss Thomas Tuchel after the Blues’ strong start

Paul Merson rates Thomas Tuchel so highly that he believes that the Chelsea FC boss would be able to guide Manchester United to the Premier League title this season.

The German head coach has been earning lots of praise for the impact he has had at Stamford Bridge since having taken over from Frank Lampard at the south west London club back in January.

Tuchel led Chelsea FC to a fourth-placed finish in the table last season and then guided the Blues to Champions League glory over Manchester City.

Chelsea FC have also started this season strongly, with the Blues having established themselves as one of the early favourites to win the Premier League title this term.

Former Arsenal midfielder Merson has been nothing but impressed by Tuchel’s tactical prowess since his arrival at the club – and he even reckons that the German would be able to guide Manchester United to their first Premier League title since 2013 with ease if he were in charge at Old Trafford.

Writing in his column for the Daily Star, before Saturday’s clash with Manchester City, Merson said: “If Thomas Tuchel was manager of Manchester United, they would win the league. He is that good.

“United are not going to win the league this season, in my opinion. But if they had a manager like Tuchel it would be different.

“He sees the game. What he did last Sunday was a masterstroke, taking off Mason Mount and putting on N’Golo Kante.

“You’ve got to remember, Mount is one of Chelsea’s go-to players, one of their best players. But he brought him off and they literally ripped Tottenham to shreds.

“If that had been a boxing match you would have had to stop it because it was getting dangerous.

“Players have vision. It’s the same with managers. They see games. Top players see a pass. Top managers see the game.

“Other managers just stick their best 11 players on the pitch and say: ‘Go and do what you want…’

“It was a big deal bringing Mount off. How many other managers would have been brave enough to do that?

“But Tuchel doesn’t really care who he upsets. He has a huge squad of players and they can’t play every week. But he has enough games to keep everybody happy.”

Chelsea FC will now be switching their attentions back towards Champions League affairs and their trip to Turin to take on Juventus on Wednesday night in their second group game. The Blues claimed a 1-0 win over Zenit Saint-Petersburg in their Champions League opener earlier this month as they got their title defence off to a winning start.