Chelsea’s sacking of Thomas Tuchel was described as a ‘gut reaction’ by Danny Murphy, who was stunned by the news of his departure on Wednesday morning.
The Blues have surprisingly announced that Tuchel has been sacked as manager after a 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
The decision – which it seems was made before the defeat at Zagreb – follows a disappointing start to the 2022/23 season despite £270million in summer transfer spending.
New owner Todd Boehly has shown he’s not afraid to make tough decisions, despite fresh contract talks with Tuchel just a few weeks ago.
His sacking came out of the Blues and former Liverpool midfielder Murphy was shocked by the news.
He told talkSPORT: “I’m really shocked, really surprised.
“I like him, he’s smart, he’s one of the best managers.
“I think it’s too early, it’s my instinct. I think it’s a knee-jerk reaction to a game last night that they dominated and would have won nine times out of ten.
“You look at the two centre-halves they brought in, he just brought in a centre-forward they were asking for, N’Golo Kante is out.
“Yeah, it’s not a perfect start and their away form has been poor and a couple of his interviews have been a little suspicious, a little whiny, but I’m not sure that’s the right thing. .”
Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan believes there is more to it than meets the eye with Tuchel’s sacking.
He also insisted that the quick timing means Chelsea will already have a replacement ready.
“They obviously have someone lined up, they’ve made a decision, and God forbid I hope that’s not the case. [Mauricio] Pochettino, but maybe it is,” he said.
“They made a decision, it doesn’t look like a footballing decision.
“Even I, who was one of his great defenders, spoke of him in less glowing terms, described him as a restless Peperami the other day.
“Listen, they weren’t great, but Tuchel has enough currency in terms of football to have had the opportunity to correct this slight malaise.
“This Champions League game is no accident. It’s not a good result and it’s on the heels of other bad results against Leeds and Southampton, but I’d be stunned if they didn’t qualify yet. in their group.
“At the end of the day, something else is brewing here. Thomas Tuchel finds himself in situations with the ownership of a football club that have put him at odds with them.
“He did relatively well at PSG and yet found himself on the other side of a row with the owners quite quickly, and here he is now, around the same time he was at PSG.
“So there’s something more to that, it’s not just a ruthless owner going through what he sees as the landscape of football.
“From his reaction to Antonio Conte, his grumbling and the team’s performance, Tuchel hasn’t performed as expected this season.
“Regardless of all that, it’s a seismic decision to retire a guy who is clearly a top-notch manager, who has done great things for Chelsea over the last 18 months.
“I thought he would benefit from the post-Abramovich mentality, where they could give him 18 months no matter what you do, but these guys fell into the same thing.
“But there is clearly something else going on here.”
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