Second EPL manager loses job, as Chelsea sack Thomas Tuchel

English Premier League (EPL) top side, Chelsea have sacked their Champions League winning manager, Thomas Tuchel following the club’s lacklustre performance in both leagues, this season.

The sacking of the German tactician also follows Chelsea’s loss by 0:1 at Dinamo Zagreb in the ongoing Champions League.

The sacking took place face-to-face with the owners, Wednesday morning, at the club’s Cobham training ground and Tuchel’s three coaches; Arno Michels, Zsolt Löw and Benjamin Weber, are expected to depart.

Tuchel becomes the second high-profile manager to lose his job in the EPL since the new season kicked off after Bournemouth dismissed Scott Parker, penultinate Tuesday, three days after they were beaten 9-0 by Liverpool at Anfield for their third successive defeat.

The London club has also reportedly approached Brighton & Hove Albion for permission to speak to their manager, Graham Potter.

Potter is said to be Chelsea’s first choice but Mauricio Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane, both of whom are out of work, are also on their shortlist.

Potter has a release clause which is believed to decrease each year and is currently about £16m.

Tuchel’s sack follows a disappointing start to the season, with the club having also been beaten by Leeds and Southampton in the Premier League, and has been on the cards after Tuchel’s relationship with the co-owner Todd Boehly unravelled during a chaotic summer transfer window. The pair had all but stopped communicating.

Chelsea have spent a record £266m in this transfer window to bring in Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among others. That increased the pressure on Tuchel but not all were his signings and there were other instances of the ownership attempting to foist players on him.

One example was the case of Anthony Gordon, who Tuchel did not want. Boehly’s data analysts had pushed for the Everton midfielder after being impressed by some of his performance metrics. Tuchel came to feel he had too many players to accommodate and not enough he could count on.

Boehly learned that some senior players were unhappy with Tuchel’s tactics and is keen to make his own appointment. Chelsea used three formations in Zagreb, one of which included using Sterling in central midfield.

The squad were surprised to be given time off after the 3-0 defeat at Leeds in August and some wondered whether he would have taken the same approach in the early part of his reign.

“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,” the club’s statement confirming the sack read, Wednesday.

Tuchel took over from Frank Lampard in January 2021 and won the Champions League four months later. An anticipated Premier League title challenge the following season failed to materialise, with Romelu Lukaku’s club record arrival not bringing the desired impact, but the campaign was significantly complicated by the situation surrounding Roman Abramovich’s ownership. Tuchel led the team to the FA Cup and Carabao Cup finals but lost both to Liverpool on penalties.