Chelsea owner Todd Boehly proved he has "no idea about football" by sacking Thomas Tuchel and will live to "bitterly regret" his decision, according to one of the latter's former colleagues.
The Blues dismissed Tuchel on Wednesday morning, 12 hours after they were beaten 1-0 by Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Champions League fixture. The Stamford Bridge club sit sixth in the Premier League table after an underwhelming start to the season and club chiefs moved quickly to replace him with Graham Potter.
Many pundits criticised the decision to sack Tuchel, who led Chelsea to the Champions League title in 2021 and FIFA Club World Cup glory earlier this year. Despite a tepid start to the 2022/23 campaign, the German remains highly-regarded and will have little trouble finding a new role at one of Europe's elite clubs.
Mainz sporting director Christian Heidel certainly thinks this is the case and hit out at the "investor's decision" which led to Tuchel's sacking. Chelsea chair Boehly is a business tycoon by trade but he has a huge say in the West London club's footballing decisions, including transfer dealings, in his capacity as interim sporting director, following the departure of Marina Granovskaia.
"The sacking is grist to the mill of those who are against investors in football. It was purely an investor's decision," Heidel told German outlet BILD of Tuchel's axing. "Someone who has no idea about football probably thought that sixth place wasn't good enough for him and said, 'Then let's try another coach', after only six games. I can't think of any other reason. But Chelsea will bitterly regret this decision - they won't get such a good coach again so quickly."
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Heidel knows Tuchel very well as he was the sporting director who handed the latter his first senior managerial role at Mainz. The 49-year-old spent five successful seasons with the German club before taking charge of Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, leading them to the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) in the 2016/17 season.
Prior to his appointment as Frank Lampard's successor at Chelsea in January 2021, Tuchel won four major honours with Paris Saint-Germain during two-and-a-half years in the French capital. He followed this up with an impressive spell in England but failed to produce the results expected of him after Boehly and Co. stumped up £270million on signings this summer transfer window.
"The new owners are investment capitalists and need a sensible return and the add value not just spend and spend," Robbie Savage wrote in his Mirror Football column, echoing Heidel's thoughts. Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Wesley Fofana were among the high-profile arrivals at Stamford Bridge before the transfer deadline.
