Chelsea would be MAD to let Thomas Tuchel leave even if Blues win nothing this season, says legend Glenn Hoddle

GLENN HODDLE says Chelsea would be mad to get rid of Thomas Tuchel if he ends this season without adding to his trophy haul.

The Blues welcome Real Madrid to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash before the second leg at the Bernabeu next Tuesday.

AFPTuchel has already won three trophies as Chelsea boss, including the Champions League[/caption]

GettyHoddle doesn’t want to see Chelsea get rid of Tuchel too soon[/caption]

Five days later, Chelsea can book an FA Cup final spot for the third successive year if they beat Crystal Palace in the semis at Wembley.

But with them 14 points adrift in the title race, failure to progress in either competition would see Chelsea’s season practically over before mid-April.

Yet Hoddle, Blues boss from 1993 to 1996, said: “Chelsea have one of the best managers in Europe. Why would you even contemplate letting him go?

“They are third right now and will be in the Champions League next season.

“And if they don’t win a trophy they still have the right jockey on the horse.

“It doesn’t always mean the horse will win but on and off the pitch he has been excellent — and he will continue to do that.

“The problem is sometimes as a manager is you have to watch out when you set a standard.

“Once you do what he did, winning the Champions League inside his first six months in the job, you have to live by that every time.

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“It also gives him a bit of leeway and certainly there is no reason why he can’t go and win that again, as well as the FA Cup.

“They have all their players firing now and all fit. They are still a very good side, and they should be favourites to beat Madrid.”

Tuchel, 48, has already lifted the Super Cup and Club World Cup in the past eight months.

But he will still be keen to show the club’s soon-to-be-appointed new owners that he is the right man to lead them — at least until his contract expires in 2024.

An embarrassing 4-1 defeat at home to Brentford at the weekend shows how far away Chelsea are from putting together a consistent title charge against Liverpool and Manchester City.

But Hoddle believes the west London giants would be challenging for the Premier League crown had Covid not called at Stamford Bridge.

The former England boss points to the outbreak at the club over the festive period as a critical factor.

He added: “Tuchel would have been challenging the top two had they not been hit big-time by Covid, first in the backline and then in midfield.

“If the jigsaw parts aren’t there, you can’t challenge. But they are good enough.”

The £97.5million purchase of Romelu Lukaku last summer was supposed to be the final piece of the jigsaw.

AlamyLukaku has found himself out of the side in recent weeks[/caption]

But the club-record move to sign him from Inter Milan has so far backfired on both the player and the club.

The Belgian striker last started a Prem game on February 19 and has played just 56 league minutes off the bench since, with Tuchel favouring Kai Havertz.

Hoddle explained: “Havertz has simply played better than Lukaku, to be honest, and has a bit more subtlety to his game.

“Lukaku is a bit of a problem for Tuchel — he doesn’t quite know what to do with him.

“Ever since he did that interview with Italian media it has all gone pear-shaped with his form and injuries. He has to look at himself in the mirror and change his mindset.

“Lukaku needs game-time and he isn’t getting it because he doesn’t deserve it. At the moment it is an easy decision for Tuchel. He doesn’t see a reaction from him.

“There are a lot of things happening at the club that need to be sorted right now and Lukaku’s future is one of those.”

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