Thomas Tuchel‘s dismissal as Chelsea head coach this week sent shockwaves through European football, with ruthless new owner Todd Boehly dropping the axe in true Roman Abramovich-style just 100 days after succeeding the ousted Russian at Stamford Bridge.
It was a move as surprising as it was confusing. Tuchel, who led the club to a second Champions League crown a mere 16 months ago, had surely acquired enough credit in the bank to survive an early wobble this season – especially after Boehly had supplied him with a war chest of more than £270million over the summer.
Taking their record spend into account, and the fact that without a sporting director in place Tuchel was the lead strategist behind it, his abrupt sacking on Wednesday, almost a week after the transfer window closed, makes little to no sense.
Thomas Tuchel’s sacking as Chelsea boss this week was as surprising as it was confusing
Todd Boehly’s decision was controversial but if performances were to go by it wouldn’t be
Though that is not to say performances on the pitch warranted a greater degree of patience from Boehly in any way.
The German’s final outing, a shambolic 1-0 defeat away at Dinamo Zagreb which raised alarm bells to a crescendo on Tuesday night, was perhaps the nadir of his 20-month spell in west London.
That lethargic showing in Croatia pretty much symbolised Tuchel’s Chelsea in its dying days; a muddled, disjointed team with no confidence, no ideas and no clear clear direction.
Few would have seen this divorce coming on August 22, 2021: when his swaggering European champions, spearheaded by a new-and-improved Romelu Lukaku, flexed their muscles as Premier League title contenders in a confident 2-0 win away at Arsenal.
Chelsea were still riding the wave of their sensational triumph in Porto three months earlier at this time, and in hindsight it was the peak of Tuchel’s reign. From there, his side slowly unravelled and dropped out of the title race as early as January.
Justifiably, a lot will be made of results this term when dissecting his sacking as Blues boss. Yet last season, as good as a third-place finish and two domestic cup finals appear on paper – admittedly amid the backdrop of sanctions placed on the club by the UK Government – it did not live up to expectations long before Abramovich’s ownership imploded.
Few would have envisaged this divorce happening when Chelsea beat Arsenal 13 months ago
The Blues were still riding the wave of their…