LONDON — Chelsea on Wednesday sacked manager
Thomas Tuchel
just seven games into the new season, hours after they suffered a chastening
Champions League defeat at Dinamo Zagreb.
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The former Borussia Dortmund and
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) boss leaves Stamford Bridge after a tumultuous period at the club, which
included a Champions League triumph and the end of Roman Abramovich’s reign.
Chelsea said they would move “swiftly” to appoint a
replacement, with former Tottenham and PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino and
Brighton manager Graham Potter among the early favorites.
“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,” the Premier League club said in a
statement.
“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.”
The Stamford Bridge club, bought by
Todd Boehly’s
consortium in late May, defended the timing of the decision, which is
understood to have been made before the loss in Croatia.
“As the new ownership group reaches 100 days since
taking over the club, and as it continues its hard work to take the club
forward, the new owners believe it is the right time to make this transition,”
the statement said.
Chelsea are sixth in the Premier League table after
three wins, one draw, and two defeats in their opening six matches — already
five points behind leaders Arsenal.
Tuchel, who was in charge for less than 20 months at
Chelsea, admitted “everything is missing” after their shock 1–0 defeat on
Tuesday.
“Too much to analyze,” he said. “I’m a part of it.
We are clearly not there, where we need to be and where we can be. So it’s on
me, it’s on us, we need to find solutions.”
Champions League glory
Tuchel replaced Frank
Lampard as Chelsea boss in January 2021, immediately adding steel and focus to
the Blues, whose expensively assembled squad were badly under-performing.
The German, 49, steered Chelsea to their second
Champions League triumph just four months later, with a stunning 1–0 win over
Manchester City in Porto.
His contract was extended by two years just days
later.
But Chelsea hit stormy waters on and off the pitch
last season.
Abramovich announced he was selling the club shortly
before he was hit with UK sanctions after the government described him as part
of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
Despite the off-field distractions, Tuchel guided
Chelsea to the League Cup and FA Cup finals, losing both on penalties to
Liverpool, won the Club World Cup, and finished third in the Premier League.
Boehly’s consortium paid a world-record fee of £4.25
billion for a sports franchise to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.
The club were transformed from also-rans into serial
winners during Abramovich’s 19-year reign, picking up five Premier League
titles and winning two Champions League trophies.
The new owners backed Tuchel in the recent transfer
window, with more than £200 million spent on players including Raheem Sterling,
Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, and Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang.
But so far the heavy spending has not paid dividends, with
damaging defeats against Leeds and Southampton hurting their Premier League
campaign.
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