Chelsea
have sacked head coach Thomas Tuchel six matches into the Premier League
season.
The club have been given permission by Brighton to speak to Graham Potter,
who is expected to meet Todd Boehly this afternoon.
It is thought Chelsea have made it clear they are prepared to meet
Brighton's exit clause figure. The club are also keen to speak to Mauricio
Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane, who are both out of work.
Boehly axed Tuchel in a face-to-face meeting just three months after
completing his takeover of the club. Sky Sports News understands Chelsea
have been considering this decision for some time and it is not a knee-jerk
reaction to Tuesday's Champions League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb which
co-owners Boehly and Behdad Eghbali both attended.
Tuchel lost his job because of an increasingly difficult relationship with
the owners, who were willing to try and make it work with the German but it
proved to be not possible. Tuchel also had an increasingly difficult
relationship with some players which is not unusual and happens at most
clubs.
Boehly is still acting as sporting director having moved on director Marina
Granovskaia, chairman Bruce Buck and technical and performance advisor Petr
Cech this summer in a complete overhaul of the Roman Abramovich era. Chelsea
invested a one-window Premier League record of £273m to revamp Tuchel's
squad this summer, bringing in Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc
Cucurella and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The owners believe they had a very good window and a new manager will bring
even more out of the players. They had concerns for some time and have been
looking at other options. Now they want a long-term appointment to move
Chelsea forward, who is closely aligned with their vision for the club.
Chelsea sit sixth in the Premier League with 10 points following wins over
Everton, Leicester and West Ham, a 2-2 draw against Tottenham and defeats at
Leeds and Southampton.
A club statement read: "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.
"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.
"Chelsea's coaching staff will take charge of the team for training and the
preparation of our upcoming matches as the club moves swiftly to appoint a
new head coach."
Tuchel said he was angry at himself for a 'huge underperformance' during the
Dinamo Zagreb defeat - his 100th and last game in charge - and suggested his
side are currently lacking hunger and determination. In his first 50
matches, Chelsea kept 31 clean sheets, but his second 50 saw them keep just
18.
Carragher: It's a huge shock | I'm not
sure Potter fits
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher:
"It was a shock, because I thought the new regime at Chelsea would be
different to Roman Abramovich and I said a few days ago if Abramovich was
still in charge, you would fear for Thomas Tuchel because of what happened
in the past with Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Carlo Ancelotti - lots of
great managers.
"But I did feel as if it might have been a different type of regime, so it's
a huge shock. It hasn't been a great start, we get that, but Chelsea just
felt like a team who needed the transfer window to end, get the squad that
they wanted and then give a top-quality manager a chance, certainly, over
the next few weeks or months to put some sort of team together.
"It's a very ruthless club and I'm not sure [Graham Potter] is the right fit
- maybe Chelsea are saying they want to do things differently in the future
in terms of having a coach in charge rather than a manager or they do things
behind the scenes differently. But if I was Graham Potter, I would find that
very hard to believe that they're going to do things differently. They've
just got rid of a manager six games into the season.
"It's a huge step up in his managerial career and Chelsea are still one of
the top clubs. They are still world champions right now, but you fear for
Graham Potter that he'll be in the same boat as every other Chelsea manager
has for the last 10 years - unless he gets results instantly they'll be
getting themselves another new manager in 12 months."
Analysis: Zagreb loss typified issues
Sky Sports' Nick Wright:
"It's the same story, like always," shrugged Thomas Tuchel. He had the look
of a man out of ideas. Chelsea's decision-makers evidently agreed.
Tuchel was speaking in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's embarrassing
defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, a side with only two wins from their previous 33
Champions League games. More damaging than the result itself, though, was
the manner in which it played out.
Tuchel had bemoaned Chelsea's "soft" defending after the 2-1 loss to
Southampton but there it was again in Croatia. "We told them to play
tougher," he said of his half-time team talk. The message didn't land.
Such defensive underperformance was never likely to be tolerated for long.
The club invested a combined £172m in Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly and
Marc Cucarella, after all.
But Chelsea's shortcomings at the other end of the pitch were perhaps even
more costly for Tuchel. Like his defence, his attack was reinforced at
considerable expense in the summer. And yet Tuesday's game showed the issues
that have dogged them for so long, a lack of understanding and ruthlessness,
had only become more pronounced.
At some point, it has to come back to the manager as well as the players.
Tuchel did a lot right at Chelsea. Champions League glory in Porto
guarantees his legacy will be a positive one. But there were problems he
seemed unable to solve. New owner, but same ruthless Chelsea.
Analysis: Tuchel pays the price
Sky Sports Adam Smith:
The Blues splashed a record-breaking £278.4m in the summer transfer window
on a host of new players - which heaped pressure on Tuchel from the get-go.
Additionally, question marks were raised over some of the fees paid on
incomings, with Raheem Sterling arguably the only addition to have proven,
sustained pedigree in the Premier League. Sterling cost less than prospects
Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella.
A convincing performance against Tottenham last month warranted three points
but triggered a flashpoint between Tuchel and Antonio Conte as the sides
played out a heated 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, with the German later
receiving a touchline ban for his antics.
A 3-0 defeat to Leeds followed as Jesse Marsch's men outplayed their
opponents, and there was another shock defeat at Southampton a week later.
The Blues ranked third across all key statistics in the Premier League last
season but are currently averaging mid-table across those very same metrics
this term - hardly bang for their transfer buck.
The result in Zagreb proved the final blow for Tuchel, with the team - and,
most notably, new signings and substitutes - producing poor displays in a
dire start on Europe's grand stage.
Who next for Chelsea?
Here are the latest Sky Bet odds...
Graham Potter (8/13)
Mauricio Pochettino (9/4)
Zinedine Zidane (9/2)
Brendan Rodgers (18/1)
Zinedine Zidane (8/1)
Diego Simeone (25/1)
'A day Brighton will have dreaded'
Sky Sports News reporter Paul Gilmour:
"It is a day all of Brighton will have dreaded, of course, but it is no
surprise to them given how Graham Potter's stock has risen and how he has
impressed with this Brighton team, not just constantly being consistent with
the side and producing these results, but also the style of play, which
Brighton have earned so many plaudits for.
"Paul Barber, the chief executive at Brighton, did speak recently about
Potter's contract. He was talking on TalkSPORT when he said the club
protected themselves the best they could when Potter signed a new long-term
contract back in 2019.
"Of course, that runs through until 2025, but crucially he also acknowledged
just a few weeks ago that it is not impossible for Brighton to lose Potter
within the context of this contract, without going into individual contract
details. Perhaps that was a nod to a release clause that a club like Chelsea
could easily meet.
"So, it's an interesting development in terms of Chelsea showing that
interest. Of course, this is a day Brighton would have dreaded but we have
been here before with the Tottenham interest in Potter.
"However, if there is any sort of release clause that would leave the
decision or any sort of decision that has to be made with Potter himself."
Chelsea's upcoming fixtures
September 10: Fulham (A) - kick-off 12.30pm
September 14: Red Bull Salzburg (H) - kick-off 8pm
September 18: Liverpool (H) - kick-off 4.30pm
October 1: Crystal Palace (A) - kick-off 3pm
October 5: AC Milan (H) - kick-off 8pm
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