Sacked Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea have parted ways. Their defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League last night capped off what is widely considered to be a disastrous start to the season.
The Blues released a statement this morning regarding the matter:
“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, the Club would like to place on record its gratitude to Thomas and his staff for all their efforts during their time with the Club. Thomas will rightly have a place in Chelsea’s history after winning the Champions League, the Super Cup and Club World Cup in his time here.”
This doesn’t come as a surprise. Chelsea’s poor start to this season, following on from the dramatic downturn in form over the second-half of the 2021/2022 campaign, meant Tuchel was most likely of the ‘Big Six’ managers to be sacked. Furthermore, Chelsea were the biggest spenders in Europe over the summer, forking out almost £300million on squad additions.
Talking to BT Sport after the game, it was evident that Tuchel was feeling the pressure and had even come to terms that the sack was near.
“Everything is missing,” said Tuchel after the game. “It was an underperformance from us. The same story [like] always.” A damning verdict from a coach whose body language, particularly the constant shrugging of his shoulders, indicates that this decision was expected. The Club’s search for a new manager will begin immediately as they aim to get their season back on track. Until then, the Chelsea coaching staff will be in charge of training and preparing the team ahead of their London Derby away at Fulham this weekend.