Should Chelsea fans be concerned after the sacking of Thomas Tuchel?

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Chelsea FC boss Thomas Tuchel

It can’t be denied that Chelsea’s start to the 22/23 Premier League season has not gone to plan. From touchline scuffles to the League and European defeats against lowly opposition, it’s certainly not unreasonable for fans to be apprehensive as the club’s new era begins.

Sacked

Thomas Tuchel was clearly not expecting to lose his job so soon. His farewell tweet emphasised both his achievements and his sense of devastation at not being able to continue at Stamford Bridge. Inevitably, the focus shifts to what can be realistically achieved this season and what Graham Potter can do in terms of galvanising his team before any new additions can be made in January. With games on hold due to the international break, many football fans turned to football-themed casino games such as Football Studio rather than making the customary football bets and accumulators. You can click here to read more about these games and their enticing bonuses. For Potter, it’s back to business as usual and fans will be expecting maximum points from the upcoming fixtures. While the new guy settles in, Tuchel is left to lament joining previous big-name managers to be unceremoniously dumped with Carlo Ancelotti. 

‘The Special One’ Jose Mourinho was also relieved of their duties in a rather rapid manner when results didn’t meet expectations. This one feels a little different, as the axe dropped just 16 months after leading the club to Champions League glory and on the back of an extravagant amount of spending in the transfer market. With £278.4 million spent on 10 new players, Chelsea made headlines this summer as the European club with the largest spending total. In his capacity as interim sporting director, Todd Boehly was mostly in charge of managing the business, but Tuchel’s influence could also be seen in Chelsea’s dealings, particularly in the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was let go by Arsenal less than a year earlier.

The Champions League defeat at Dinamo Zagreb would have been disappointing, but if you click here to view the group, few would bet on Chelsea not progressing. The Blues’ Premier League form has not been as hoped, with costly losses to both Southampton and Leeds, but given this is a hastily assembled squad, one would expect more patience. Yet, patience is not afforded to Chelsea managers and Graham Potter will need to hit the ground running.

Busy

Tuchel received great praise for the way he was able to instill some much-needed defensive resilience after club legend Frank Lampard lost his job for not being able to sort out an expensively assembled rearguard. Potter now needs to perform the same trick with Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana expected to be integrated and dominant.

At the other end of the pitch, things are far from seamless with a meek eight goals scored in the opening seven matches and the departures of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner now seem strange with a new man at the helm. 
There are numerous other issues that Potter will need to deal with, but this isn’t alien territory for someone who has impressed greatly with his work at Brighton, particularly in improving players and coping with players being sold. What will be different is coping with the demands of Champions League football and the higher expectations at The Bridge. 

Should Chelsea fans be concerned with the sacking of Thomas Tuchel? The noise from the new owner is that Potter will be given time to reshape the team and if true, then few would doubt his ability to be successful. You can click here to see Boehly’s ventures, but as an owner of a Premier League team, we know little about him and his actions have been concerning considering he’s been the top man for such a short period of time.