Journalist Simon Phillips has told GIVEMESPORT how former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel lost the dressing room at Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel was sacked by the Blues on September 7 following a 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Graham Potter has been announced as the German’s successor, signing on a five-year contract.
However, the dust has not yet settled over Tuchel’s stint in charge of the Blues coming to a dramatic end with the German having overseen just six fixtures this season.
Phillips has detailed disagreements and arguments that ultimately led to the German tactician’s demise:
“He was close to Marina Granovskaia, he was close to Petr Cech, both of them have gone and Chelsea are making changes from top to bottom, but the biggest issue from what I’ve heard was between Tuchel and the players.”
Tuchel led Chelsea to the Champions League in 2021 before lifting the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in 2022.
He had appeared to hold a close relationship with his squad, but Phillips has revealed behind-the-scenes all was not well:
“It just got to a point where he lost the majority of the dressing room. About 70 per cent of his squad wanted to leave this summer and a lot of them were pushing for that as well.”
Phillips added:
“It wasn’t a sense of there was a bad atmosphere in the camp or massive blow ups, but there were many disagreements and many arguments between Tuchel and the players, individually, and it’s been brewing for a long, long time and many of the key players lost their faith in him and had relationship breakdowns.”
Thomas Tuchel left shocked by Chelsea sacking
The Sun reports that Tuchel was left in shock following a meeting with Chelsea owner Todd Boehly telling him he had been sacked.
The German pleaded to be given more time but Boehly and co-owner Behdad Eghbali did not change their minds.
It was a sad end to what had been a hugely popular managerial reign at Stamford Bridge.
Blues supporters fell in love with the former Paris Saint-Germain coach, especially with how he handled the club’s crisis during the sanctioning of former Roman Abramovich.
Many of the club’s fans are just as shocked by the news as Tuchel was, given that he had led the west London club to two finals last season.
They did lose both finals to Liverpool on penalties but it was a difficult period for the German to try and deal with.
Nevertheless, the Premier League has lost a real character who will likely have no problem finding a top job elsewhere.