Thomas Tuchel’s Jekyll and Hyde personality revealed by Chelsea playmaker Jorginho

Jorginho has revealed Thomas Tuchel’s Jekyll and Hyde personality in his pursuit of perfection at Chelsea. The German has overseen a remarkable turnaround since his arrival at Stamford Bridge – winning the Champions League within four months of taking charge – and is now focused on delivering a first Premier League title in five years.

Jorginho claims the jovial persona Tuchel portrays to the media and players away from the touchline switches the moment he is in game-mode.

“He works hard, he wants the best from us,” said the midfielder. “So he tries to give his best as well to help everyone because he knows what we can give and that’s what he demands. But I think it’s two different guys because the guy you see on the touchline is not the same guy outside the pitch.

“He is very friendly outside the pitch and on the pitch he is just focussed and wants to win the games and wants the best from us.”

Tuchel has had a transformative effect on Jorginho, who went from peripheral player under Frank Lampard to a key component of Chelsea’s Champions League triumph and Italy’s Euro 2020 success in the summer. On Tuesday he collected his award for Uefa’s Player of the Year award – and he is among the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or.

“I believe anything can happen,” he said. “Look where I came from, from so far away, from Imbituba. So anything is possible. I don’t believe in the impossible. Then anything can happen. The only thing I can tell you is that today I prefer to focus on what happened. And don’t waste energy creating expectations. Because if I build anticipation and spend energy on it, I miss the moment now.

“So I believe that living in the moment is much more important than creating expectations and forgetting about the present.”

Jorginho hailed the impact of Romelu Lukaku following his £97.5million from Inter Milan and said his Italy teammates were full of praise for the Belgium international after his impressive performances in Serie A.

“They said that he works a lot, he can help a lot, he tries to talk, he works hard,” he added. “We are really happy that he is really helping everyone and that’s what everyone does here. He came with the right mentality, working and trying to help. He works so hard during the training and he deserves every goal that’s coming, and a big impact is well deserved.

“You see it on a daily basis. He always wants to improve. Practice is over, he goes with the goalkeeper alone to shoot at the goal. So you see that he’s hungry, that he wants to grow. He knows he has reached the top. But then you see the difference between a player and a great player, a champion. The guy gets that high, the guy wants to keep improving. He is like this. That’s why these goals come. Because he works hard, he believes. He deserves it all.”

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