"He Asked About Me, As A Person: Rudiger Shares How Tuchel Transformed His Chelsea Career

Antonio Rudiger in an emotional interview highlighted how Thomas Tuchel's arrival at Chelsea changed his life.

"That was a crazy season for me [last season]. I hate to say crazy, but what other word could I use? Not even six months before that final, I was on the floor, brother. At the time, I’d been dropped from the squad, and I couldn’t even get a reason why.

"We had a meeting one day, and the manager told me that we had a deep squad and that he preferred others over me. Boom — that was it. After that, there were a lot of rumours.

"I was getting a lot of abuse on social media. It was the hardest time in my career, and I stayed silent because I did not want to cause issues for the club. Imagine — if you would have told me that within a few months, I would be starting in a Champions League Final against City? 

"When Tuchel came in as manager and gave me a chance, it was a new life for me. did something right away that I think a lot of managers could learn from. It had nothing to do with tactics. He just came up to me and he said, “Toni, tell me about yourself.”

"He wanted to know where my aggression and hunger came from, and I told him about growing up in Berlin-Neukölln and how I used to play so hard on the concrete pitches that all the older kids started calling me 'Rambo.'

"He asked about me, as a person. That was big. When Tuchel gave me a chance, I had so much motivation that I was never going back to the bench. I had made up my mind that I was going to give 200% to this club, to this badge — despite everything that was said about me.

"For me, after everything I endured, the Champions League was just the pineapple on top of the cake."

Source: Tribuna.com