Chelsea Manager Sacked: English Premier League club Chelsea released their German manager Thomas Tuchel from his duties, earlier today.
Chelsea made a poor start to the season and never looked in rhythm. They lost two of their first six Premier League matches.
On top of that, Tuchel’s side suffered a shocking 1-0 defeat in their Champions League campaign opener against GNK Dinamo Zagreb.
Now, let’s take a look at how Thomas Tuchel fared in Stamford in his one and a half year span.
Chelsea Manager Sacked: Replacement of Frank Lampard
After initially not intending to join the Blues in the middle of a season, Thomas Tuchel joined Chelsea on January 26, 2021, as the replacement of Frank Lampard.
On joining the Blues, Tuchel drastically changed Chelsea’s season and took some interesting decisions. The German used an interesting 3-4-2-1 system. He rejuvenated Antonio Rudiger’s career and made him a left centre-back in his three-man backline. Tuchel also took a pragmatic approach to his game and made his team a very potent defensive unit.
The German mainly relied on his wingbacks Reece James and Ben Chilwell for the ball progression. He used a fluid forward lineup that consisted of Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, and Timo Werner. With these changes, Tuchel’s team looked unpenetrable.
European Glory
When Tuchel joined Chelsea, people thought he might secure Chelsea’s top-four finish. However, no one thought the German manager would actually help the club win the Champions League.
Tuchel did the unthinkable in some manner. His team comfortably defeated Atletico Madrid in the round of 16. Then Chelsea had a very close match against Porto where they kept their nerves cool and qualified for the semis. In the Semifinals, Chelsea faced Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid. The Los Blancos were totally outplayed by Tuchel’s team to such a point that after the match Real Madrid felt lucky that they escaped humiliation.
Chelsea were now up against Manchester City in the finals of UCL. Coming into the match, Tuchel have already defeated City twice in the same season and seemed to have an upper hand over his Spanish counterpart. This forced Pep to do something out of the box. Guardiola decided to start without a proper defensive midfielder. However, nothing changed.
Tuchel’s boys played superb football against Manchester City and didn’t let them create a single opportunity. Kai Haertz then scored the winner for the Blues as they lifted their second-ever Champions League
Chelsea Manager Sacked: Cup final defeats
The biggest disappointment in Thomas Tuchel’s tenure at Chelsea has been their inability to win more Silverwares.
In his first season with the club, Chelsea reached the FA Cup finals but had to bow out to a spirited Leicester City. In the next season, Chelsea reached the finals of both domestic cup tournaments – the Carabao Cup and FA Cup. However, Chelsea lost both the finals against Liverpool.
Stabilising a sinking ship
Chelsea suffered a huge blow when their Russian owner Roman Abrahamovic was sanctioned by the English government. This decision by the government put Chelsea Football Club’s future in danger. From the support staff to players no one knew what will happen in the future, how the club can function, and will they still be associated with Chelsea in the near future.
At this moment, Thomas Tuchel played a pivotal part. He made sure the outside mess did not reach the inside of his dressing room. He was the glue that kept Chelsea’s team together and by doing this Tuchel showed his brilliant managerial skills.
Clash with Boehly
With time, Chelsea finally got in a new owner in the form of Todd Boehly. The American businessman took over the club from Roman Abrahamovic. He spent a lot of money on the incomings and it seemed like Chelsea have found a passionate owner who will back his manager.
However, According to Daily Mail, Thomas Tuchel had a clash with his players and the owner Todd Boehly. The report says that many players could not understand their exclusion from the lineup and a few players thought they were played out of position. Tuchel also played a part in Boehly’s favourite player for the striker position, Cristiano Ronaldo’s move. Meanwhile, Chelsea also had a poor start to their season. All these together resulted in him losing his job.
Overall, the rise and fall of Tuchel’s Chelsea were very drastic but the manager probably have been hurried out of the club.
