Thomas Tuchel has given his stance on Graham Potter being sacked by Chelsea on Sunday night after the English boss lasted just seven months in charge following his appointment. Potter took over swiftly from Tuchel in September but struggled to impose himself on the club with a bloated squad, injuries and large turnover making it a far from ideal environment to work in.
The German boss himself, who set extremely high standards for anyone following him in the job, had his own issues with the atmosphere and circumstances that were thrust upon him over pre-season and into the start of the campaign. His axing from new owners Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital didn't hold him back though with Bayern Munich moving to appoint him last week.
Tuchel has already made an immediate impact too, winning his first match in charge 4-2 against nearest challengers Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. At the same time Potter was watching the final minutes of his Chelsea reign.
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Now, with Boehly searching for his third permanent manager in 10 months since taking over, Tuchel has given his take on the news of Potter's dismissal. "I saw the news very late last night," he said ahead of Bayern's game against Freiburg. "The timing coincided with my appointment here. I really enjoyed working there and formed friendships for life. But the club has changed a lot, so it didn't really trigger big emotions in me."
The decision to sack Tuchel came as a surprise to most with the coach winning the Champions League just over 12 months earlier. The choice was less about early season results and more of a stylistic and personal fit though, with Boehly explaining the changes Tuchel alluded too.
"When you take over any business you have to make sure you are aligned with the people in the business," he said. "And Tuchel is obviously extremely talented and obviously someone who had great success with Chelsea.
"Our vision for the club was to find a manager who really wanted to collaborate with us, a coach who really wanted to collaborate. There are a lot of walls to break down at Chelsea. Before, the first team and academy didn't really share data, and didn't share information about where the top players were coming from.
"Our goal is to bring a team together; all of that needs to be a well-oiled machine. The reality of our decision was that we weren't sure that Thomas saw it the same way we saw it.
"No one is right or wrong. We just didn't have a shared vision for the future. It wasn't about Zagreb. It was about the shared vision of what we wanted Chelsea to look like. It wasn't a decision that was made because of a single win or loss. It was a decision that we thought was the right vision for the club."
One of the men tipped to succeed Potter at Chelsea has made way for Tuchel at Bayern. Julian Nagelsmann has been linked with the job at Stamford Bridge and is admired by the hierarchy but he won't be receiving any help from Tuchel on taking the job should it be offered.
"If he would ask me," Tuchel replied when asked what he would say his fellow countryman. "Because he's not going to ask me because he doesn't need my advice."
The Blues will be under the temporary care of Potter's assistant coach Bruno Saltor when they face Liverpool on Tuesday.
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