Thomas Tuchel was not sacked as a result of the disastrous loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. It merely prompted a decision which had already been discussed at board level. Chelsea’s new owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali purchased the club with the intention of making it a global brand to rival Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Tuchel’s failures were hindering that ambition.
The poor start to the season with the team not organised or functioning meant losses which Arsenal and Manchester City did not suffer. Chelsea were always going to play catch up.
Boehly had already parted company with most of Roman Abramovich’s management team and Tuchel was always in a precarious position…success would have made him secure and failure would see him gone.
Boehly and Eghbali want a new culture at Stamford Bridge and they felt Tuchel was not playing his part in joining in with the new approach.
Many commentators have criticised Chelsea for spending nearly £300million in the transfer window and many of the current star players are unhappy with not starting games.
Boehly’s decision to force former chairman Bruce Buck and director Marina Granovskaia to leave did not cause dissent with the supporters. Top assistant Petr Cech left of his own accord but Tuchel had become a fans favourite and his sacking could cause trouble.
He is also widely regarded as one of the world’s finest coaches which is something American Boehly did not appreciate…he has far more knowledge of American baseball.
Tuchel refused to get involved in appointing a new Director of Football and actively said a clear “no” to Boehly’s interest in bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to Stamford Bridge. Boehly felt that Tuchel would not play along with a close management style in which many people were involved in running the team and making decisions.
Word from Stamford Bridge is that negotiations with Brighton manager Graham Potter are going well and he could even be in the dugout for Saturday’s game against Fulham.
