If at first you don’t succeed; try and try again

That long walk to collect a loser’s medal and walk past the trophy has to be the hardest thing for a professional footballer.

There is a popular saying that goes; ”If at first, you don’t succeed; try and try again. The pursuit for Champions League honours is the most difficult in club football; that is why winners and even multiple winners of the trophy are elevated to a different class; irrespective of what happens after that triumph; their names remain written in gold.

Many great managers from times past, Arsene Wenger, Bobby Robson, Howard Kendell, Gérard Houllier still have that dent on their illustrious record. A great player like the Brazillian Ronaldo doesn’t have a Champions League medal to his name; despite his elite player status; meanwhile, players like Djimi Traore, David May and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have lifted the illustrious trophy.

Thomas Tuchel’s story is one of many bumps along the way; injured and forced to retire at just 25; started from the bottom after taking charge of youth teams, until Ausburg’s reserves and then Mainz finally decided to take a chance on him.

His time at Mainz saw the breakthrough of many of the clubs’ youth players by playing some energetic, high octane football that of course caught the eye of many. Borussia Dortmund took a chance on Tuchel as the man to replace the departing Jurgen Klopp.

Of course, things were not all rosy at the Signal Iduna outfit; even though he delivered a DFB Pokal for his efforts; he was finally shown the door. A big blow for the young, charismatic coach who had caught the eye of many across Europe. The question was who would take a chance on him again considering his perceived ”failure” at Dortmund as some more high profile managers were available at the time.

Step in, Paris Saint Germain; the French side that has dominated the domestic scene but had an eye on European domination especially with the inflow of Qatari oil money.

It seemed a strange appointment at first, especially as it came from left field and came as a huge surprise, but PSG appointed the German anyway. Two Ligue 1 titles and after a much-coveted appearance in the Champions League, it seemed to create the ideal platform to continue to build the PSG dynasty and sooner rather than later the Champions League trophy would be delivered to the Paris faithful.

In football, three months is a very long time or so they say as Thomas Tuchel was fired at PSG just months after getting the club to their first Champions League final.

It was a huge surprise for many as he seemed to be delivering and meeting all the key milestones. However, unknown to many there had been issues relating to transfers between himself and the hierarchy at PSG and in a show of power, he was relieved of his duties.

In came Chelsea to the rescue; another chance at redemption for the German tactician. Tuchel settled on the job quite smoothly, like he was made and built for it.

He and the Chelsea players clicked instantly, confidence levels rose, defensive performances started to improve and the Blues started winning matches. A match made in heaven you would say; that connection was finally fulfilled on that night in Porto as Chelsea won their second UEFA Champions League; elevating Tuchel to elite status and erasing the disappointment of last season.

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