"The motivation behind our decision was the fact that we were not sure that Thomas shared the same vision. Neither of us was wrong or right, and it was not about the defeat against Dinamo Zagreb or one game in particular."
(Todd Boyle, new Chelsea owner, at the SALT Trade Conference in New York) (1)
When we decided to talk about the departure of Thomas Tuchel, which is rather late, the last thing we expected was to tell you that the previous statement of Todd Boley, the new American owner of Chelsea, was 100% true.
Honesty is the last thing you expect from the statements that follow the dismissal of any coach in general, especially those from the administration that fired him, especially when such statements are said at a global trade conference attended by thousands.
When Tuchel says, for example, that his "psyche is destroyed" because of his departure from Chelsea, the truth is taken for granted.
No coach would publish a statement like this if it wasn't honest.
As for the man who fired him being honest in turn, this is the strange thing.
(2)
First impressions
Chelsea is a strange club in general;
In the nineteen years that Russian Roman Abramovich spent as owner of the club, no other English club achieved more than 21 titles that the Blues achieved, but at the same time, no other club from the top of the continent witnessed 13 coaches in the same period, two of whom returned to lead the team Later.
(3)
Allegri: "A few years ago Chelsea wanted me as manager. Good place to go?"
Tuchel: "No. I won 3 trophies, including the Champions League and they sacked me"
Mourinho: "You think that's harsh, Thomas? I won 3 Premier Leagues, 3 league cups, an FA Cup and they sacked me twice" pic.twitter.com/rMhSsmhzDS
— Harry (@HarryCFC170) September 11, 2022
In such an atmosphere, everyone expected that the new American leadership would bring some stability to replace what became known in the media as the "changing shirts" policy in the coach's position, as a metaphor for the ease of overthrowing the owner of this chair in Chelsea, so when Tuchel was dismissed after only 6 rounds of the Premier League, After a record transfer market that saw England's record spending of €289m in a single summer, it was easy to classify Boley among the affluent Americans who don't know a word about football, and are driven by momentary emotions and unbridled passion.
Of course, the man’s statements played a role in that, considering the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah as products of the Chelsea Academy was a huge misprint. The first joined from Anderlecht at the age of 21, and the second came from Basel at the age of twenty-two, and before everyone hurried to correct it, Boley was making his most famous statement about his hope to hold a match for all Premier League stars between the north and south, similar to the "All Stars" match between the East and West in American basketball, to give everyone additional reason to believe that he has nothing to do with football really.
(4) (5) (6)
Boyle said that holding the NBA All-Star Game brought revenue of more than $200 million last year, and with similar profits, the Premier League can expand the financial and commercial difference - which is essentially wide - between it and the rest of the European leagues.
(1)
The problem is that the structure of mass clubs, and sports in general, is different in England from its counterpart in the United States, as a club such as Newcastle, for example, cannot move to another city, or rename itself and its brand, as happens in most American sports, because, simply, He will lose most of his fans then.
The Premier League discovered today a new comedian in Tod Boehly, who think Mo Salah and KDB came from Chelsea Academy, and think there should be an all-star game between "North" & "South" players.
Can't wait to see him hiring Jason Sudeikis to replicate his Ted Lasso success.
pic.twitter.com/Xwem0OS5fW
— Mohamed Sultan - Mohamed Sultan Mahmoud (@MSultanMahmoud) September 13, 2022
Most importantly, this implicit conflict between East and West has been rooted in American civilization since its inception, and may be the most intense and influential after the obvious cultural conflict between North and South, another characteristic that England does not share with the United States, for example, London, the richest city of England, In the south, while the north includes the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, which have enjoyed the two largest clubs at the level of titles historically.
second impressions
Well, we too were among those who fell into the trap of easy, superficial first impressions, before we discovered that any closer look at the man's working style, and what he has tried to accomplish since he acquired Chelsea in partnership with Clearlake Capital, For its English owner of Iranian descent, Behdad Iqbali, you would prove this impression wrong.
(7)
Boilly does not really know much about football, but he does know a lot about the management of sports institutions, and most importantly, he knows a lot about ways to manage them sustainably, and turn them into profitable independent entities that are not dependent on direct funding from this or that owner, and his talk about “walls.” that should be demolished at Chelsea" may be one evidence of this.
(1)
The first thing that Boyle and Iqbali did was implement the policy of the 1st 100 Days Review, meaning that they put the club with all its facilities and sectors under evaluation during the first three months, as if it were a quick survey of the club's position and the first spaces with attention and care.
During this review, they hit many "walls" in Chelsea, in the words of the American, for example, Boley and Iqbali found great resistance from academy officials when they wanted to obtain the database of current and loaned players, before they discovered that Chelsea FC did not pay much attention. For this to begin with.
The second crisis came after the departure of Marina Granovskaya, Abramovich's right arm, and his agent in London, Bruce Buck, club director, and legend Petr Cech, the club's technical advisor.
This huge management vacuum was engulfing the club after it failed to achieve most of its initial targets in the transfer market.
(3)
Meanwhile, Boyle and Iqbali were trying to gather the decision-makers to replace these departed people with others agreed upon, to bring more harmony and harmony into the club's administrative structure, but then, to their surprise, they encountered the strangest possible problem.
Third impressions
21 titles in 19 years by 13 coaches.
Twelve of them wanted more power to achieve their goals on and off the field.
Twelve of them have suffered from Abramovich's sudden interventions and decisions, the reservations of Eminalo and Granovskaya after him, the constant pressure to take advantage of the academy's wasted talents and achieve titles at the same time, and the constant fear of the sudden dismissal decision.
Twelve of them wished they were in control of the transfers and the entire sports management, and then came the number 13 man, who, unlike all of them, only wanted to train.
Once a blue always a blue, been exactly a week since we sacked Thomas Tuchel.
pic.twitter.com/fGbDvY4tCW
— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) September 14, 2022
Training here is intended in a technical sense.
Believe it or not, Thomas Tuchel's official position was Head Coach, and that was at his own discretion.
This is a very strange story because most coaches would take it as an insult, and most of the time the promotion from "Chief Coach" to "Technical Director" is self-evident once proficiency is demonstrated.
(8)
This is what happened with Arteta at Arsenal, for example, after the first six months passed, but it did not happen with Tuchel because he did not see him as a caller, and this was the biggest problem of Boley and my acceptance with him;
The fact that they did not find him "cooperative" enough when asked to participate in, say, the selection of the new athletic director, the administrative restructuring of the academy, the appointment of scouts and the development of the data science department.
Surprisingly, all things Tuchel has mastered in different degrees throughout his 22-year career, during which he worked as a coach for the youth teams in Stuttgart, Mainz and Augsburg, and as director of the Academy in the latter, before becoming the coach in Mainz, Dortmund and Paris before Chelsea, and despite that, he decided in the end that he He wants to be a coach only. He is more interested in training sessions, following up on players and their performance, and the attendant preparations for opponents and developing tactical plans.
(9)
Imagine for a moment that everything that Chelsea's predecessors dreamed of was presented to him on a platter, with the management's blessing, without the need for heated press conferences, provocative statements or hidden struggles behind the scenes, and yet the man was vehemently rejecting it.
Once, Tuchel said he needed a cold shower after management meetings so he could clear his mind and prepare himself for a training session.
If Mourinho or Conte were in his place, for example, they would cancel the training session in order to participate in the selection of the sporting or technical director.
wrong movie
That was Boyle and Iqbali's main problem with Tuchel, so we told you that the first statement at the Salt Conference a few days ago was 100% true;
Neither of them was wrong, the first wanted to draw a future for the club in which everyone works for one goal instead of the usual power struggles, and of course you can never blame him, and the second was not interested in what crosses the white line, and saw that his loyalty to the club in its crisis after the Russian invasion of Ukraine was enough To preserve his position, and that it is unfair to bear the consequences of this crisis due to an administrative vacuum and the departure of many officials affiliated with the Abramovich regime, and you cannot blame him as well.
(10)
"I never expected it, as if I was watching the wrong movie!"
(Thomas Tuchel on the shock defeat against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League)
How did you see Tuchel's dismissal ✍️ pic.twitter.com/PWv1BbjN1M
— Kooora (@kooora) September 11, 2022
The irony here is that Todd Boelly’s first 100 days in charge of Chelsea coincided with the whistle of the 100th game for Thomas Tuchel as well, but this strange irony, surprisingly, was no more than a coincidence, because Boley’s talk that the dismissal was not related to the defeat in Croatia was honest. turn.
Joe Shred of "Sky" thinks Tuchel's previous statement would still be appropriate the next day, when Chelsea's owners asked to meet him on a video call and informed him of their decision, so he spent a few minutes trying to persuade them to turn him away, before accepting it in a mix From shock and denial at the end of his scenes with Chelsea, it's as if, for the past 18 months, he's been watching the wrong movie, too.
(11)
The reality seems to be a mixture of this and that, because the shocking truth here is that Tuchel was unable to create the strong team he promised in the end, and at no point did Chelsea fans feel that their team was ready to take on the permanent front duo.
This fact is hard to accept for one obvious reason;
The huge waves made by the German's victory in the Champions League within a few months of his appointment have not receded yet, and everyone still feels that the next is better.
Everything in Tuchel was based on this title and its dependencies, and all frustrations were swept under his rug, and perhaps this is what made everyone, including us, ignore the rest of the facts.
Ronaldo, Lukaku and other things
In addition to the Champions League title, Ronaldo played - perhaps unintentionally - the role of the second distraction, and this is another paradox that is no more than a coincidence in fact, because Ronaldo and the Champions League often agree.
After Boley was seen accompanied by Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo's agent, during the latter's frantic journey to search for more matches in the Champions League, and after it ended up not contracting him based on Tuchel's desire, many expected that this would create a lot of problems between Tuchel and the management, and even concluded that this was The reason for his dismissal in the end.
(12)
🎥 Todd Boyle's statements about the reasons for the dismissal of Thomas Tuchel, translated in Arabic #CFC |
Chelsea Gate |
Chelsea pic.twitter.com/OTZhx06YpA
— Chelsea Gate |
CFC Gate (@cfcgate) September 13, 2022
The truth is that, as we mentioned, this was nothing but an unintended media distraction from the reality of the situation in Chelsea, and the fact that the team's tactical problems surfaced not long ago, even before the summer of the great exit in which the Blues lost 3 players from the backline at once. .
In Tuchel's first 50 matches with the team, he conceded only 24 goals in all competitions, but this number doubled in the next 50 matches, making Dinamo Zagreb's goal the 53rd accepted by Chelsea.
The fierce team that Tuchel had built up in the first few months, against which it was difficult to score, was finished before the start of the current season.
(11)
Chelsea's defensive stats in the Premier League since Tuchel arrived...
Goals conceded (14) – 1st 🥇
clean sheets (13) – 1st 🥇
Shots on target faced (58) – 1st 🥇
xG against (15.5) – 1st 🥇 pic.twitter.com/S4TqTZPXOc
— LDN (@LDNFootbalI) September 13, 2021
Helped by this is the second important fact;
And it is Tuchel’s continuous failure to build a clearly defined attacking structure within 18 months, between the continuous tactical adjustments in the front line roles, the frequent change of positions of many players, and the spending of 115 million euros on Lukaku to no avail, Tuchel, according to many sources, succeeded in His offensive players frustrated and resented, simply because they felt that his plans were no longer conducive to showing their best self.
Running towards the mirage
All of this weighed heavily in Boley and Iqbali's decision, as they felt that Tuchel's policies of rotating, switching and altering the continuous offensive line might force them to incur huge losses, including, for example, having to sacrifice both Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic, the duo that Tuchel was unable to benefit from during Last season, it cost the club more than 100 million euros, the first of which was its record deal at one point, as well as the squandering of Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was considered one of the continent's most important talents in his early days, to add all this to Werner's loss at the beginning of the summer, after his return to Leipcic for half the number that was spent to get him from there two seasons ago.
(13)
Add to all this the fact that Tuchel spent about 50 million euros to bring Sterling from City, and in fact Sterling is a wonderful player with a good number of advantages, but the abundance of scoring or the sharpness in taking chances was never one of them, especially when we discovered that Tuchel does not intend to His use as an alternative wing to Rafinha, who failed to include him, but as a second striker with Havertz, who in turn is not considered a first attacker in the tactical sense, if he can be considered a striker at all.
In fact, this is the deeper problem of everything Tuchel left at Chelsea, simply because Christiansen, Rodgerero and Alonso staying, and getting Rafinha and Conde in the summer, does not seem to solve it, because the dilemma lies in imagining himself to the attacking personnel, their tasks and roles, as if he was watching a movie Another, in which the Chelsea attack does not include one real wing after the exclusion of Pulisic and the use of Sterling as a striker, and does not include a single playmaker after the exclusion of Ziyash, and does not include a single striker after the departure of Lukaku, but, at the same time, he scores like the City or Liverpool attack.
We do not say all of this because Tuchel really deserved to leave, or because he failed at Chelsea in general, but we say it because the resounding victory in the Champions League closed everyone's eyes on him, and because everything that reflected Tuchel's career in Chelsea, such as the repeated injuries of Chilwell, James and Kanti, and Werner's failure in front of goal Lukaku's naive interviews have been documented and researched in analysis studios and across various media platforms.
@AzizBPL's opinion on Tuchel's dismissal 👋🏻
Do you agree with him?
pic.twitter.com/nEMOZHXBic
— Studio Al Jumhour |
Audience Studio (@StudioAlJumhour) September 10, 2022
All these things are taken for granted, and do not facilitate the work of any coach, but at the same time, the man's mistakes were not insignificant as well, and his sharp, confrontational personality did not contribute to overcoming obstacles when they appeared.
In the final analysis, the whole story seems to be a problem of rushed first impressions that turn out to be wrong with time;
It turned out that the magic wand that changed the team's condition in the first months was not really magic, and it turned out that Tuchel, contrary to expectations, was the most affected by the departure of the Abramovich administration, despite the record transfer market with the Boely administration, and it turned out that Boley, in turn, is not just a wealthy American. Another who does not know a word about football, and is led by momentary emotions and wild passion.
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Sources:
1- Todd Boyle interview analysis;
Chelsea plans, All-Star game proposal and Intercontinental Club model - The Athletic
Tuchel issues a statement following his dismissal from Chelsea – Sports Illustrated
3- Why Chelsea sacked Thomas Tuchel and appointed Graham Potter after only 6 games of the season - ESPN
4- Thierry Henry mocks Boley's comments about the Chelsea academy, Mohamed Salah and De Bruyne - Daily Mirror
5- The career of Mohamed Salah - TransferMarkt
6- Kevin De Bruyne’s career – Transfermarkt
7. Todd Poelly and Chelsea's new owners;
The full story of the trade alliance - The Athletic
8- dismissal of Tuchel;
The full story is told by both parties - The Athletic
9- The career of Thomas Tuchel - TransferMarkt
10- Why did Chelsea sack Thomas Tuchel?
– Goal
11- Thomas Tuchel sacked from Chelsea;
When did it end for the head coach at Stamford Bridge?
Sky Sports
12- The real reason behind the decision to dismiss the Chelsea owners of Thomas Tuchel - The Telegraph
13- 3 reasons to sack Thomas Tuchel from Chelsea - Oh My Goal!