what does "exploded from the shadows" mean in the sentence below?

[rezaaa]

"Chelsea exploded from the shadows under Tuchel last season and the upshot was that the Stamford Bridge player entrance could be decorated with further pictures of silverware being lifted."
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/sep/13/chelsea-begin-champions-league-defence-with-sense-of-liberation

 

[slevlife]

The author is saying Chelsea was "in/under the shadow of" (i.e., unnoticed because all the attention was given to someone else) Tuchel before, but now they've "exploded" (i.e., become successful in a short period of time).

It's a bit of a mixed metaphor. The metaphors they're mixing aren't incompatible, but the result is still somewhat awkward to read.

 

[jutfrank]

The author is saying Chelsea was "in/under the shadow of" (i.e., unnoticed because all the attention was given to someone else) Tuchel before

No, it doesn't mean they were under the shadow of Tuchel.

The phrase under Tuchel means 'under Tuchel's management'. Events go like this:

1) Chelsea are in the shadows of other teams in the Premier League (Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United).
2) They hire Thomas Tuchel as the new coach.
3) They achieve rapid and dramatic success under Tuchel's stewardship.

 

[slevlife]

Thanks for correcting my error! Without reading the whole article or knowing what Chelsea or Tuchel were, I was guessing that Tuchel was a club, team, or town's name, rather than a person! As you can probably tell, I know nothing about football.