‘Spoken to people behind the scenes’: Man United icon slams Chelsea owner for sacking Tuchel

Days after the departure of Thomas Tuchel from Stamford Bridge, former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand has slammed Chelsea owner Todd Boehly over the ruthless sacking of the UEFA Champions League-winning manager. Chelsea decided to part ways with Tuchel after the English Premier League giants (EPL) giants smashed the world spending record in the summer transfer window. Under Tuchel’s watch, Chelsea signed superstars Raheem Sterling, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Wesley Fofana, Denis Zakaria, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella before the end of the 2022 summer transfer window.

During the Roman Abramovich era, the German guided Chelsea to their second UEFA Champions League title in 2021. Three months after completing the takeover of the London-based club, Chelsea’s new owner opted to part ways with the German head coach. Chelsea sacked Tuchel as manager after a poor start to the 2022-2023 season.

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Tuchel was sacked as the head coach of the Premier League club after Chelsea were upstaged by Dinamo Zagreb on matchday 1 of the UEFA Champions League. Speaking on his YouTube channel about the departure of the former Chelsea manager, Ferdinand revealed how Tuchel’s sacking sent shockwaves through Stamford Bridge.

“I’ve spoken to people behind the scenes and from good sources it was as much a surprise to the coaching staff as it was to everyone outside. The staff had spent a lot of time speaking to the owners and from what I’m told Tuchel and his team had never had as much engagement with owners at any point in their careers,” Ferdinand said.

“There’s hands on and there’s too much. From what I hear they were getting their noses too into things that should be left to a manager,” Ferdinand added. On Thursday, Graham Potter replaced Tuchel as Chelsea’s new manager. Potter has agreed to a five-year contract with Chelsea.

Ferdinand also claimed that Chelsea owners tried to influence even the selection of players when Tuchel was in charge of the Premier League club. “I’ve heard those stories, they’re trying to influence even player selection and when you get to that point you can start to understand why a manager would have some pushback. Tuchel, the personality and character he is, he wouldn’t have accepted that, some other characters will do as new owners say but Thomas Tuchel isn’t that guy,” the former Manchester United defender added.