So it turns out that Chelsea’s 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb will be remembered as the last game at Chelsea for Thomas Tuchel, a manager who stuck by the club during the post-Abramovich days when we didn’t even know if we had a bus to get the team to the match. He was a serial winner in every cup match and leaves as a Chelsea legend. Things may not have been looking good during pre-season, but sometimes you just have to give it time. Now I guess the new ownership group can finally get their guy in and it completes the hard reset.
Tuchel’s departure came as a surprise, but it was on slow brew. Our form since the thumping 4-0 win against Juventus in November has massively dipped, but given that the transfer window only shut a week ago, I’m beyond shocked.
Chelsea’s toothless form from the Premier League simply carried over into matchnight one of the Champions League. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s debut couldn’t have gone any worse. He seemed short of confidence when he had the ball in front of goal and that spread through the team like a bug. We were 1-0 down within 13 minutes and Chelsea fans knew from that point on we would have a mountain to climb, regardless of the opposition let alone on Europe’s biggest stage.
From the moment Mislav Oršić scored the heart and confidence just evaporated and it was just another chapter of a very long book. That book has now finished following Tuchel’s departure. My favourite memories of him have to be the Champions League run soon after his arrival all the way to the final in Porto in 2021. Every game was a joy to watch and Chelsea had that fear factor back among Europe’s elite.
That Champions League triumph was a surprise, but he brought Chelsea back to the levels they should be at. You have to ask why Tuchel had just been given £250m to spend only for him to leave seven games into the season. What’s next? We have to get back to the basics of attacking teams effectively and not just sitting with the ball for 60 minutes. All eyes on the new appointment. Watch this space.
