In a spell typical of the current campaign, we booked our place in the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 1-0 win at Barnsley last night and are back in Premier League action on Monday against Newcastle United, leaving just three days between matches to recover and prepare.

While that lack of training time must be frustrating for a head coach trying to get to know his players halfway through the season, Tuchel feels the high number of matches also presents an opportunity to see what they can do on the pitch, even if he is having to be careful of how much work he does with them at Cobham.

‘Every coach in the world wants to have four weeks with his new team to get to known the habits and the characters and the characteristics of the players but we did not,’ he said. ‘Maybe the good thing is that we didn't think about it because there was no time. It was beneficial that we had a lot of games because in matches you get to know your team better. In matches the boys can show their spirit of competition, their mentality and you see pretty much everything.

‘Now we're learning and trusting each other while we are playing in the hardest competition in Europe and this is a good experience but there is no other way at the moment. There's a lot of space to improve, now we have three days to prepare the next match and we will use them.

‘It’s always a balance and this is what we think about when we're in Cobham. How much training time do we get with the players? How much information do we give them? In the end less is more. There's the constant management for us to deal with the sessions, with the input, with the support, or just sometimes leave them alone and let them process all the new movements, the new approach or their performances. It will also be like this during the next month, that we always think about how much can we give the team and what would be an overload.’

Matches like last night’s win over Barnsley, where we took the victory despite not being at our best, also show a need for another balance, between making sure the players are aware of the standards expected of them while giving them the positive and trusting atmosphere needed to perform at their best.

‘You do not need to be harsh, do not need to be too strict, but need to be clear there are things that we can do much better than we did in Barnsley yesterday,’ explained Tuchel. ‘So we will tell them the truth and we will allow ourselves to be honest if we don't like the performance. If we can do things better we will show them no matter what the result is. The other way around, if we have a top game and not win we will allow ourselves to show the good picture.

‘There are things to do better. We will focus on the details because in general I don't want to be too harsh and I still stick to that plan because we had difficult circumstances. So we will focus on details and we will help them to understand what we can do better and then we will prepare for the next match against Newcastle, which will be a hard challenge.’

One thing that is definitely proving beneficial for our head coach during this busy start to his Chelsea tenure is the depth in our squad, as demonstrated again at Barnsley when N’Golo Kante and Billy Gilmour replaced Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic as the midfield pairing.

However, Tuchel insists having such options at his disposal, with three established internationals and one promising young player vying for two spots in the starting line-up, are essential to competing at the highest level in football.

‘I think three is not too much for two positions. It then hopefully becomes a difficult decision because that means that everybody is on board, everybody is available. If we have difficult decisions to make then everything is good. Then it is my job to manage them and it is my job also to trust the guy from the bench.

‘It is impossible to achieve our goals with 11, 12 or 13 players, so to have the three guys for the two positions is a big gift for me. At the moment to have a fourth guy like Billy Gilmour is absolutely necessary at this kind of level, with what we expect from us and what the supporters and the club expects from the team.

‘So we need exactly this kind of quality and I'm not worried about the management because I feel a group that is strong. I feel the bond between the players. We have to prove that we are a strong group when things become a bit difficult, but so far I feel a very good atmosphere and it's my job to manage that and to create it in a special atmosphere and with a special bond between the players. They can still be competitive with each other, but we need to be allies and we need to be close and we need to understand that this is a team effort.’