For all the talk of a new way at Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel ultimately fell victim to one of football’s oldest truths. He had lost authority over the players, so ended up losing his job. All of this came to a head in the dismal 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, that again saw a Chelsea team that were a disconnected mess.
The new hierarchy made their first big managerial decision overnight, informing Tuchel in a face-to-face meeting on Wednesday morning. It was a move that was ironically far swifter than any by Roman Abramovich, but the concerns had been growing for months. They actually came from another irony, that leaves the club with a significant problem and a warning as to why a sporting director is imperative.
