How Tuchel begged Chelsea not to sack him
FT Desk
- 7 Sept 2022 15:02 BST
- 3 min read
Thomas Tuchel reportedly begged Todd Boehly not to sack him as Chelsea manager on Wednesday morning, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
Tuchel won the Champions League with Chelsea in May 2021, and the Blues were crowned world champions as recently as February of this year.
But Roman Abramovich has since been replaced by Todd Boehly in ownership of Chelsea, and the new man has been left unimpressed with recent results after sanctioning nearly €300 million spent in the transfer market this summer.
Thomas Tuchel SACKED as Chelsea manager 👋 pic.twitter.com/qcmsYp7VgK
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) September 7, 2022
Chelsea have lost three of their last five games in all competitions, which culminated with a 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday, in which the Blues only managed three shots on target.
According to the Sun, the news still caught Tuchel cold.
"Tuchel rocked up to Cobham this morning to give his flops a post-match dressing down," they write. "But when he arrived at Chelsea's training ground there was nobody there to greet him.
Tuchel pleaded
"Tuchel was then thrust into a call conference with the Chelsea hierarchy. In a relentless 10-minute meeting, Tuchel pleaded for more time as he urged for a chance to turn things around.
"But his request fell on deaf ears as the Stamford Bridge top brass informed the German there was simply no time left. Tuchel was left 'totally shocked' as the news sunk in."
Related articles
It is not the first time Tuchel has been sacked after a promising start at a club. He won the DFB Cup with Borussia Dortmund in 2017 before leaving later that year amid a disagreement with head scout Sven Mislintat over transfers.
He then took charge of PSG, winning the French domestic double with them in 2020 and taking them to that year's Champions League final, but a public fall-out with Sporting Director Leonardo spelt the end for him there, too.
Where Tuchel goes next remains to be seen, but RB Leipzig, having parted ways with Domenico Tedesco, has emerged as an early favourite.
