Chelsea fans have taken to Reddit to joke about how new boss Thomas Tuchel was trying to say part of Cesar Azpilicueta’s name.
The former Paris St-Germain manager, who was appointed as Blues boss on Tuesday after Frank Lampard’s sacking, got his reign at Chelsea off to a frustrating start after a 0-0 draw with Wolves.
Antonio Rudiger and a deflected strike from Callum Hudson-Odoi forced good saves from Rui Patricio but the hosts struggled to break down the visitors at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
But amidst that disappointment, there seems to be a bond between Chelsea’s players and their new manager.
According to the Chelsea FC Reddit page, Tuchel motioned to Azpilicueta but said “Azpli” when trying to get the Spanish defender’s attention in the stalemate.
The German issued instructions to the 31-year-old just before the resumption of the second half.
After their chat was over, Christian Pulisic came up to Tuchel and the pair laughed about something.
Some Chelsea fans believed he was correcting him on how to say Azpilicueta’s name.
For several years now, Azpilicueta has had the nickname ‘Dave’ due to some people struggling to pronounce his name.
The name Dave came to be as a nod to the classic comedy, Only Fools and Horses, where Trigger calls Rodney, ‘Dave’, as he cannot remember his name.
Azpilicueta took to social media in 2013 to teach people how to pronounce his name.
He spelt it out as ‘Ath-Pilly-Kwta’.
“Some fans still call me Dave and the team bus driver is called Dave, so we’re two Daves, but team-mates call me Cesar now,” he told the Daily Mail.
Azpilicueta has had to play second fiddle to Reece James at right-back for much of the season so far.
He has been an unused substitute 10 times in the Premier League but he has recently started in five out of seven games in the top flight.
The change in manager may signal a fresh start for the defender.
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