As head coach of Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea when Russia invaded Ukraine, Tuchel has already experienced a taste of what may be coming. He handled the barrage of questions about the war and Abramovich’s swift decoupling from the club with tact, composure and skill in his second language. On one occasion, Tuchel did lose his cool, however, cutting off a reporter eight minutes into a press conference ahead of an FA Cup tie at Luton Town in March 2022, when asked one too many questions on the war. “Listen, listen, listen, you have to stop. I am not a politician,” he said, visibly exasperated.
