The end of Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea Football Club

In one of the biggest shocks of the summer, Chelsea announced this morning that Chelsea had sacked Thomas Tuchel. It is thought that this was in the works for quite some time and the decision was NOT taken based off last nights defeat which begs the question, what went wrong and why?

Players unhappy, a difficult summer with communication and a change of culture at Chelsea are named as the reasons by sources.

It’s not uncommon for a new ownership to want a complete reset, after all, Thomas Tuchel was a Roman Abramovich appointment and they have already gotten rid of multiple members of the previous regime including Marina Granovskia, Bruce Buck and Petr Cech, it just feels as a fan that we’ve been fed lies this whole time.

During the takeover process, we were told by reliable reporters how much Boehly’s ownership group rated and appreciated Thomas Tuchel, they ranked him as one of the very best coaches in the world and now just a few games into the season, he’s gone. If you just look at the facts, Chelsea are still only 5 points off top of the premier league, they’ve only lost 1 Champions league game and haven’t contested in domestic cup competitions yet, something Tuchel proved he could do very well during his time at Chelsea.

We were told that all of Chelsea’s signings this summer were Tuchel targets and now after this mornings news, it’s revealed by multiple sources that actually Todd Boehly led heavily on the data infastructure already in place within the club. Tuchel was understood to be not as engaged as the owners wanted but can you blame him when he just wants to be a coach and help prepare the squad? Is it even true? Tuchel recently said that the communication had been “Constant” does that sound like a manager that wasn’t engaged?

The timing of the sacking is extremely poor, there is an international break in 3 games and Chelsea would not be in immediate danger of not finishing Top 4 regardless of the next 3 results. You’d think the owners would have sense to wait it out, even if it’s for the benefit of the next coach who would then have time over the Int break.

The sacking seems very reactionary on paper, I’ve been talking for years about Chelsea needing a manager who gets backed over the players yet it seems another case of players being unhappy within the squad due to their minutes and throwing their toys out the pram, leading to the manager taking the bullet. When will Chelsea accept not every internal situation within the club needs to end with the manager leaving?

Antonio Rudiger, thought to have no choice but to leave the club as contract talks were put on hold last year, commented on Chelsea’s fire and hire regime just previously this year to the Daily Mail.

“ I hope this club the mentality changes from sacking coaches early when success is not there. I like to trust the process and, with Tuchel, you can see there is a process”

I do not believe the reports which state Tuchel wasn’t committed to Chelsea, yes when you watch some of the games he doesn’t seem as enthusiastic on the touchline coaching but it’s clearly more frustration than “Not caring” and it’s very clear to me through a combination of quotes, facial expressions and celebrations when we do something well or win, that he was still looking to build on his current success at Chelsea, how could you possibly think differently?

Of course, It’s up for debate whether Tuchel would have improved the squad to the levels required, personally I think he could have if given more time, after all, there’s no debating that he is a world class manager, he’s tried different systems and formations at Chelsea, he did not give up on the team and for the sake of logic which doesn’t seem to be used within this new ownership, could you not at-least wait it out a little while longer? Didn’t Tuchel deserve that time to work considering his track record?

It feels that Tuchel has taken the blame for certain players shortcomings, this is the nature of football when you are the manager but I just don’t personally believe seeing the football Tuchel’s managerial career has served up so far, he couldn’t have done the same at Chelsea in the next few months. Chelsea have had good spells of football under Tuchel, namely destroying every single side on xG over the course of the champions league victory and in patches last season. I don’t think there’s a manager out there apart from Pep Guardiola that will give Chelsea fans and the ownership the total satisfaction of a play style they are seemingly dreaming of.

Looking at the squad, you’d be assuming which players he did or didn’t have good relationships with because we are not factually at the training ground, but in my opinion, only Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Kepa Arrizabalaga and potentially Kai Havertz could have cases for fractured relationships and I say Havertz because I’ve heard in the past he wasn’t happy with his changes of roles within the XI.

Some say the writing was on the wall for a while but they are saying that without using context, Chelsea’s form dipped majorly during the second half of last season due to the sanctions placed on Roman Abramovich, it was the most uncertain time during Chelsea history, the club were faced with the threat of liquidation and despite all this, Chelsea continued to play premier league and European games under the guidance of Tuchel, he was more than a manager for Chelsea, he was the spokesperson, the leader, the warrior that Chelsea needed and depended on, this is why fans loved him so much.

Thomas Tuchel will no doubt embark on another journey within football and Chelsea just have to hope he doesn’t end up at a premier league rival in the near future like Antonio Conte did, although both Conte and Tuchel are top managers, Tuchel at a premier league rival would hurt for different reasons, Tuchel’s story feels unfinished at Chelsea whereas with Conte it was clearly time to go, during 17/18, he gave up on the team and club and this was evident with the results and his demeanour.

It’s sad, it doesn’t feel the right time and the shockwaves across Chelsea sent today were unexpected with the majority of reaction across social media and the fans in and around the ground today filled with sadness and anger.

Time will tell if it was the right decision. Until next time, Thomas.