‘It was a shock’ – Tuchel breaks silence on 8am Chelsea sacking amid ‘extraordinary bond’ with ‘strong group’

Thomas Tuchel has broken his silence on his surprise Chelsea sacking which saw him dismissed following the club’s 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League last September.

Co-owner Todd Boehly outlined his reasons to dismiss Tuchel for Graham Potter, citing that their visions didn’t align which is why they opted to change the head coach just four months after completing their £4.25 billion takeover of Chelsea.

Tuchel had huge success at Chelsea, winning the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup during his 18 month stint in the English capital.

He is now in charge of Bayern Munich after being appointed on a two-and-a-half year deal following the sacking of Julian Nagelsmann.

There is the possibility of Chelsea and Bayern facing off in this season’s Champions League should they both win their quarter-final ties against Real Madrid and Manchester City respectively.

Ahead of Tuchel’s first game in charge of Bayern this weekend against another one of his former sides, Borussia Dortmund, the German was quizzed about his Chelsea departure.

The former Chelsea head coach opened up on his special bond with the Chelsea team, both players and staff, and admitted he was surprised by the five minute conversation which saw him no longer in charge of the Blues.

As quoted by Ben Jacobs, he said: “It was a kind of a shock. It was an unusual and very short meeting at eight o’clock the morning after the Champions League game (against Dinamo Zagreb). It was a 3-5 minute meeting. I was also not in the mood to talk longer.

“We had the feeling we were in the right spot at the right time to achieve big things and stay longer. We had big relationships, huge relationships, within the staff. We still do. How long did it take to get over it? It still hurts not to see these people on a daily basis.

“I’ve said it before, I love this job. I have the passion. The week here (at Bayern) was very demanding but there’s no funnier place than a dressing room and a football staff. It has so much love, so much joy, so many good jokes. That is what I have missed the most.

“(At Chelsea) we built an extraordinary bond because of the circumstances. We started during Covid and Brexit, then came the change of ownership. So we were a strong, strong, strong group on the training ground and it was not in my hands to take the decision (to leave).

“I was no longer part of this group, and it felt like a family. So now I have found a new challenge. I am happy to be back at a very ambitious, big club and straight away I feel the energy.

“I still have a good bond with the (Chelsea) players. We still text. There are many, many messages. I still have a lot of friends there and this will not end because of a new job.

“There will always be people in the football industry that say I am difficult or complicated. I don’t think I am difficult to work with. I think I am easy to get on with.”