What will Tuchel bring to Chelsea?

Monday saw the not-so-surprising news of Frank Lampard's departure from Chelsea, following a run of poor form. Touted for the title at the start of the season by bookies and the media, Lampard finished his managerial stint at Stamford Bridge with his side ninth in the Premier League.

Frank Lampard lost his job as manager of Chelsea on Monday, finishing with an alarmingly low points per game ratio (1.67).

Today's announcement was followed by the news that Thomas Tuchel is due to take over as manager of Chelsea on Wednesday. But what exactly should we expect from him tactically? Should we expect him to bring in some players? We take a look at these questions and more...

How do Tuchel's sides play football?

Former PSG and Borussia Dortmund manager Tuchel lost his job to Maurcio Pochettino in December, following a lacklustre league campaign with the Parisian Giants.

Whilst Tuchel is a very well known manager, he isn't associated with a 'brand' of football, as somebody like Pep Guardiola would be. He's often called a 'laptop manager', due to his particular fascination with statistics and player data.

Thomas Tuchel is expected to take over at Chelsea imminently.

In terms of formation, Tuchel does not set his teams up in a regular shape, instead adapting his approach based on his opposition. Most often in France, this came in the form of a 4-3-3, with a deep defensive line.

I can't be certain that this will be his go to for Chelsea, as he liked to switch it up a lot at Dortmund too.

However, a 4-3-3 makes sense for Chelsea, given their depth in midfield and a host of strikers who can't seem to find consistent form.

Thomas Tuchel's tactical principles focused around the idea that every player should have at least two passing options when receiving the ball at all times.

This includs a centre back split when the goalkeeper has the ball and a number of small 'diamonds' being formed all over the pitch.

This 'positional/zonal' approach worked well for a time in Ligue 1, when teams would park the bus and hope for the best against them. However, more daring teams like Lyon, Monaco and Lille caught on and found a way to disrupt the system; simply press every player on the pitch.

PSG players under Tuchel often froze when they lost the ball in a dangerous area for the opposition to exploit. This was because training centred around the idea that with these 'diamonds' that very few mistakes could be made. No great contingency plan was formed on the basis of making mistakes, and they dropped points because of it.

The German likes his teams to enjoy a healthy amount of possession, but build-up play is centred around patient passing, drawing the oppositions press and then hitting with a devastating counter (rather like Pep Guardiola's at Manchester City).

Who will he play?

One obvious factor in Frank's dismissal was not getting enough out of his new, expensive players. Ziyech, Werner and Havertz particularly have looked shadows of the players they were in Germany and at Ajax, so it will be interesting to see if and how Tuchel can get the most out of these three marquee signings.

Frank Lampard found himself under fire for not getting the best out of summer signing Timo Werner.

Thiago Silva had a bit of a falling out with the German coach following a row over his PSG contract, which saw his shock free transfer to Chelsea go through.

Both are model professionals however, so I'd imagine that Silva will maintain his place - besides, quality options at centre-back have been further limited by the departure of Fikayo Tomori to AC Milan in the past few days.

Fikayo Tomori joined AC Milan in a surprise loan deal.

(On a side note, I am extremely surprised that that loan deal for Tomori was sanctioned, considering Lampard was sacked so soon afterwards - surely the board would have wanted any new incoming manager to make the final decision on Tomori leaving? For all we know, Tuchel could have loved the English centre-back and wanted to build his team around him. This does perhaps offer a bit of insight into the chaos and controversy surrounding the club at present)

I have a feeling that Giroud is going to popular with the new manager - especially considering his fantastic relationship with Stoke City flop Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting when they worked together at PSG, who was called upon a lot more than expected.

I'd put a lot of money on Kante coming well and truly back into the mix, playing the deep floating role entrusted with Marco Veratti and Leandro Parades at PSG.

Expect Mount and Kovacic to complete the midfield - Tuchel loves hard workers in the middle of the park (hence his signings of Ander Herrera and Idrissa Gana Gueye).

N'Golo Kante could become the focal point of Tuchel's midfield.

As for his front line, I think he will have to play Werner and get him firing quickly (in order to please the board that invested so heavily in him). I would also expect the German to be flanked by Pulisic and Ziyech, providing they can stay fit.

The former Ajax star seemed a smart signing at the time, but has found himself criticised, particularly for poor decision making.

Tuchel will turn Ziyech into the player we expected him to be. I think this will be achieved by allowing Ziyech to drop off almost into midfield, with Pulisic and Werner forming a front two.

This would see us get the best out of Ziyech's passing ability, as well as giving Werner the space to operate on the flanks, as he did at Leipzig.

Transfers

I'm sure Tuchel has certain assurances regarding a transfer budget, but am less certain about his ability to spend in the short time remaining in the January window.

Defence is in obvious need of improvement, but who's available? Any cheap fixes at centre-back will see Liverpool rival the Blues, with Klopp's men most recently turning towards the released Sokratis.

Tuchel's agenda will be focussed more on getting the most out of Lampard's summer signings, rather than bringing in a host of new faces straight away.

Sorry Chelsea fans, but don't expect too much in the way of incomings in the winter window, Tuchel will look to reinforce in the summer instead.

Will he succeed at Chelsea?

This season is not yet a write-off for the Blues - but the hopes of a league title are well and truly gone.

Challenging for top-four will be the focus domestically, with a very tough tie against La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid to come in Europe.

Tuchel oversaw the revitalisation of Borussia Dortmund following the collapse of Klopp era there (although having to spend €119 million to do it), so it is entirely possible that history could repeat itself and we could see Chelsea fly back to the top.

This will take time, but Tuchel has an amicable domestic record, winning the DFB-Pokal in Germany and a host of trophies in France.

Tuchel's biggest test will come against La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

I'd expect Chelsea's season to continue in an inconsistent fashion, especially if there are some injuries, but I foresee another big summer of spending at the London club, and the implementation of Tuchel's tactics should see Chelsea back in and around the top of the Premier League.