Chelsea released a video on their website on Thursday afternoon that showed the players in Ireland having a game at the end of their session - with a forfeit for the loser.
It was a very simple game. Each player took it in turns to throw a ball to their teammate who had to then score a header. Regardless of whether they missed or scoed, that player then had to get up quickly and get in goal to keep out the next player’s attempt.
It was a best of three between the team wearing the bibs and the ones that weren’t, with the game 1-1 heading into the final frame.
In the end, it was the bib team that emerged victorious with Danny Drinkwater netting the header to secure a 5-2 victory in the third match.
But it wasn’t without it’s controversy as Tammy Abraham vociferously claimed he was impeded in the process after he missed his header and running to the goal line as Ross Barkley headed into an empty net.
Chelsea’s video analysts were in a tower high up and confirmed after what was essentially a VAR check that the result stood. That meant Abraham and the losing team had to sing either a Backstreet Boys or Britney Spears song ahead of dinner to the rest of the camp.
There was an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the video that was posted on the club website, especially towards the team spirit that Tuchel has fostered in west London.
What is even more impressive is that Tuchel is doing it without the vast majority of players who were at the club last season as they are still away on their holidays .
Senior players Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Marcos Alonso, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kepa, Edouard Mendy and Abraham are in Ireland among the players who were around the group in the second half of last season.
But Tuchel is working with a majority of loan players who were away last season and a crop of youngsters who will not have trained with the first team on a regular basis during his first six months in charge.
The Blues boss has carried on where he left off with his Champions League winning group of May with this new crop of players - well, new to him anyway.
He wouldn’t have met the likes of Barkley, Davide Zappacosta, Malang Sarr, Danny Drinkwater and others until they reported back to Cobham for pre-season ten days ago.
Throughout his first six months in charge, Tuchel constantly preached the need to create a “bond” among his players, to fight for each other when things were getting tough.
After the Champions League final win over Manchester City in May, the German head coach said: “We have a strong bond, a group who can really defend which is a huge part of football and have answers to all questions in the game.
“The level is set from us, once celebrations are over we have digested this experience, it is the moment to evolve and to use it.”
Plenty of those players who were in the final are not currently on the Emerald Isle but by the looks of the social media accounts from the club and the reaction from fans, Tuchel is creating a new bond with some new players.
Whether they remain a part of his plans, we don’t know. A few of them are likely to move on as the head coach needs to trim down his squad as it is far too bloated for a Premier League season.
But at least they’re enjoying their pre-season and also, will be keen to impress the boss even more with the atmosphere that he has created in the camp.
