In a recent interview, the defender Toni Rudiger voiced his opinion about the role of the newly appointed coach Thomas Tuchel in shaping his game. He addressed the situation regarding racial abuse that he faced in social media.
He also talked about how much attention Tuchel gives to every individual’s performance. Rudiger was not given so much gaming time like he is getting now under Tuchel favored by the injury of Thiago Silva and Zouma.
Rudiger was included in the side for the last couple of league games under Lampard but he has started all the games under Tuchel. He believes the players are adapting quickly under the new coach very quickly and that showed when Chelsea defeated Sheffield United 2-1 in their Premier League away fixture.
‘When we analyzed the games against Wolverhampton and Burnley, I think we adapted very well for the plan,’ he said.
‘Of course, there will be some moments like against Tottenham in the second half when we came out and we were a bit slower, but what was good was that we showed mentality, we showed that we can suffer together and move forward. The most important thing is the result, that is what we need at the moment, and we got it.
‘For me, it is more important to look at the things that went wrong and to make them better,’ continues the German, ‘because the good things you don’t need to speak about but you need to address things that have to be better, and the coach is doing well on that.
‘He is very detailed and that is good because that makes you always have to perform on your best and that makes you also better, and me I like this way.’
There had been social media news that Rudiger had caused the difficulties that have made Lampard’s departure from Chelsea. This caused chaos amongst the social media fans of Lampard and a lot of racist comments began to flow on various social media platforms. This led to shows of support from his team-mates but also and totally unacceptable.
Among those commenting from outside of the club on social media, there were some who resorted to racist abuse. Chelsea is also supporting Rudiger on this matter and investigating the players involved in it. Chelsea’s officials had already asked the social media platforms to check the post for its racist contents before posting it for public platforms
‘I have been in the club into my fourth season and I have had four different coaches, with Tuchel now, and it was never talked about when Sarri left the club or when Conte left the club that players were involved or something like this,’ Rudiger said as per Chelsea’s Official website.
‘My conscience is clear. I know who I am and I know I did not do all that nonsense that came out and for me in my head, I am very free. I am open to every new coach, as I was open also to Mr. Lampard.
‘I cannot control people’s emotions but people should be human beings. Me, I didn’t post anything but the racial abuse was immense. This makes me stronger because I know who I am, I can look in the mirror and I can smile. I know I didn’t do anything so for me this is forgotten.
‘For me, in life, it is very important I can look in the mirror, I see myself, I know who I am. Of course, it hurts but in this case I just block it out because I know I didn’t do anything.’
Rudiger considers social media companies must do more to prevent what he and others have experienced via their platforms. Although he says that these words don’t affect him, he still feels sorry for those who do these abuses.
‘To be very honest I don’t know about all these social media things but I think the more people who make accounts, they make money off it. So me personally, I think they don’t really care because as you know, this money has the power so the rest doesn’t matter, so it is hard to tell if people will make a change on that.
‘I feel sorry for that but I feel more sorry for people who are not strong enough so it really affects them. Of course, it affects me in a way too but it is just in a way that makes me think that people are not normal, people I am sorry to say are just stupid.’
