The transfer window is closed, everyone knows where their future lies and there are places to be secured in the team and points to be won in the remaining 33 Premier League games.
‘We need to step up and if we don't get tough, we will get punished all the way,’ Tuchel declares.

‘We will show a reaction that we can do this. We need to find the right spirit and attitude throughout all the matches, and that includes me, my staff and the team, and we are now at the moment to use the momentum that we know who is in the squad. From now on we will show a new face and have to show a new face, and show a new toughness.’

That is certainly the case today against a West Ham side renowned for testing the opposition physically and who after their own slow start to the season, won their first game last weekend and drew with Tottenham midweek.

‘It was a good match of football, I enjoyed watching it from both teams and West Ham were very strong,’ notes Tuchel.

‘They're a very physical team and I have a feeling they're a strong group, with a good team spirit and a strong group with the manager.

‘They have periods when they can create huge moments within minutes, then they have periods where they dig in and defend deep and there's a lot of discipline, always ready to hurt you on counter-attacks with speed and physicality.

‘They can work a lot of crosses with Soucek arriving in the box for headers and of course set-pieces are where they are strongly physical.

‘They're struggling a little bit in getting results and getting going into the season,’ our head coach also points out. ‘They had also some late signings which injected I think a lot of quality and personality in that group. So it will be a tough derby.’

To counter that West Ham threat, Tuchel is counting on the renewed sense of stability that comes with the closing of the transfer window and the energy that brings.

‘We simply need to grow and to build a group and to influence each other in a positive way,’ he explains.

‘We could see it the last two days on the pitch in training. I saw a reaction already. I need to choose a team and from there we go and we will use it to kick-start the season.

‘It's needed. We have our reasons why it is like this but we need to leave it behind us and not think so much about what was going wrong.

‘We have the chance to start the season, a home game with the squad that we have and with the players that are available, and I have a feeling that everybody's ready to show up.’