New owners, but same old Chelsea.
Ever since Thomas Tuchel’s Blues fell away in last season’s Premier League title race after Todd Boehly took over from Roman Abramovich, I just got the feeling that the German was not safe anymore.
Boardroom changes added to the upheaval as star manne jumped ship.
And even though Boehly shelled out a record £300m for seven new players, Tuchel was gone before the transfer window had been shut for a week.
It’s vintage Chelsea to fire a coach seven games into the season.
But it's even more ironic that they have chosen Graham Potter to head up a new “long-term” project.
Good luck to him. Potter worked his magic at Brighton and deserves a shot at a big job.
But it raises the question: when do you sack a coach and when is too early?
In the case of Tuchel, it seems like many factors have led to the club pulling the trigger.
Above him in the chain of command, the influential pair of managing director Marina Granovskaia and sporting director Petr Cech have both been released.
And that was bound to disrupt Tuchel’s work.
Change has been the common theme and performances haven’t been great, so I can understand.
Tuchel’s defensive solidity has always trumped the contribution of his attacking players, and duur strikers who don’t score goals look like an unforgivable waste of geld – in my book at least.
And as I was putting these thoughts together, I was watching another swak performance from Liverpool put Jurgen Klopp in the firing line after they were ripped apart by Napoli in the Champions League.
It would be easy to dismiss this as a bad spell for the team, after a klomp injuries.
They haven’t been the only team struggling for consistency and results in the early part of the season.
But it’s the nature of this crammed season though – things come at you quickly.
Post-match, Klopp admitted that he needs to reinvent his side with rivals getting the better of his “heavy metal football”.
With just two wins in seven matches, it’s clear that something is wrong.
The Reds will definitely have to discipline their wingbacks. Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been massive in their recent successes, but they have been a liability this season – leaving an injury-hit defence exposed.
It’s gonna be a mal campaign, with the World Cup smack in the middle, I suspect it’s gonna feel like two different seasons either side of Qatar.
A good start means niks if you can't keep it up – as they say: “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish”.
And having Klopp in charge at the business end of the season will probably be better for Liverpool.
matthew.marcus@inl.co.za