Todd Boehly’s firing of Thomas Tuchel was perhaps the most Blackadder-esque and typically Chelsea moves in pursuit of an ironically atypical Blues goal ever.
Win now at all costs? Old and busted. Long-term sustainable planning for a successful and victory-laden future? New hotness.
Firstly readers sorry for the break between posts. The tax rules around internet work in the country of my current residence are rather complicated if I go above a certain threshold so I have to be more sparring than the previous column rules of 52 weeks and 52 posts. Don’t worry, like I always say to my girlfriend when I even go to the bathroom at a restaurant, “Oh my god, yes, I miss you too”. In this case, I even actually mean it.
One does have to wonder how people feel about Chels’ replacing Tuchel with Potter now. On the back of five wins with a much-improved style of football it’s an interesting conversation to have.
If the west London club firing Tuchel surprised you then I should say “welcome to Chelsea Football Club, that’s what we do here”. Ken Bates fired managers like he was some sort of penny-pinching prelude to Roman Abramovich who set a new record. The truth is that CFC owners tend to have very distinct opinion of how the club they own should be run. Sheepish men seldom have ever been in the chief board seat in SW6. That’s a simple truth.
There were some weird stories that came out about Tuchel’s departure; the most peculiar was the one that Tuchel didn’t want to be involved in transfer activities. A story that I don’t think any football fan has ever heard before. Usually, managers are upset at not having more say. In this case Tommy “The Technician” Tuchel just wanted to work on the car without any interest in the pieces that he could potentially import.
Whether or not he was that pleasant about the occasional early morning or late evening call or text is more hearsay than anything. It’s pretty understandable though that if you had just purchased a club for £3.2billion and then been awkwardly forced by the government to promise £1.5b worth of investment over a 15-year period (as strange a set of rules as we’ll ever hear and a story far less discussed than necessary) you’d probably be a little annoyed if one of the employees gave you attitude for needing their help.
All that said though, Chelsea owes Tuchel a debt of gratitude. Much less for the Champions League he won that now puts us two above any of the other London sides who for many years felt they were better, more important, and statelier than us. For someone who went to school in North London during the prime years of Arsene Wenger, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, and Sol Campbell – that 2-0 debt will always be of value.
The german is truly owed a guard of honor for is his behaviour during the chaos of the sanction period. In football it would be hard to argue has there ever been a time when more was asked of a manager that had less to do with football than ever before. Questions about player conduct, finance and the odd marital issue are sadly run of the mill. Human rights violations and the validity of civilian sanctions for war crimes? Not so much.
Whether or not you agree with the politics around a lot of what happened that’s not what I’m here to write about and with respect to the vast majority, I’m actually not even interested in the discussion. But Tuchel’s stately, elegant, poised and admirable stature during that period are the things that few people have the character for these days. I live today with both admiration and gratitude for the man that equally echoes the relief I felt every time he spoke then.
In a time when emotional outbursts and selfishness are often acts of conceit, camouflaged as acts of self-preservation, Tuchel would have been within his rights to wash his hands of the issue and resign. He certainly would have been within them to simply refuse questions and interviews. But the fans, the club and the community deserved more than that. He spoke to and for us during that period and demonstrated the sort of spine that many in this vertebrae challenged time aren’t even aware of enough to dream for.
So for that he deserves our gratitude. Thank you Mr. Tuchel and good luck to you in all your future endeavors. That though does not mean if the new owners felt that he wasn’t the man to lead their vision going forward that he should keep the job.
For a long time, I have said that a more business-minded owner might be the best possible thing for the Blues. The desire to turn a profit or to simply fail to turn a loss could instill the sort of discipline that Roman Abramovich never needed. CFC was a luxurious and fun hobby for the Russian billionaire. If Roman simply collected the interest on his rumored £12b fortune at a standard rate, excluding the necessary genius level, if perhaps morally questionable, business acumen to go from Siberian orphan to tire and rubber duck followed by a jean salesman to oil and steel magnate then he would have been compounding over £240,000,000 in wealth per year in simple interest. Who cares if you don’t keep a youth player then? Who cares if you don’t sign the right striker? If you need to fire a manager? Not someone whose money makes almost a quarter billion dollars a year for itself simply by existing.
In this very column, I’ve said time and time again a huge part of Chelsea’s transfer policy was determined by Roman’s fascinations. “If Roman wants the player then the Blues will get him. If he doesn’t, then we won’t”.
Time and time again I said this. Which is fine. That’s why people dream of buying clubs. It was a fascinating time that we all lived through. Were there funny odd ones like Shevchenko, Zhirkov, Lukaku, Mutu and Veron? Yes. But don’t forget Ballack, Hazard, and Ashley Cole. All players he also wanted and who let’s face it we loved. Is it surprising that a megayacht-jumping St. Barts visiting billionaire was less fascinated by youth matches? Not at all.
Someone to whom the money matters more may be more careful and Chelsea have a structure that if allowed to thrive should be successful. Both Marc Guehi and Fikayo Tomori are in the England squad. Chelsea needn’t have bought the defenders they did this summer if they had simply kept the two. I never understood the Abraham sale. For a side that can’t buy a number nine to save it’s life to have a homegrown one with captain potential scoring over 20 goals in two consecutive campaigns was amazing—selling him? Peculiar.
That’s why a group with a focus on sustainability might be perfect. You might not all be my level of extreme. You’re not all hoping for a full homegrown 11 and an Athletic Bilbao in blue like I am. You’re foolish for not wanting that but I accept you with an open heart. You’re welcome.
If Tuchel didn’t want to work that way then hiring a manager who was willing to work on the macro as opposed to micro-level isn’t the worst thing in the world. In fact, it makes sense. An English manager known for an interest in developing both the mental as well as physical sides of players? Even better. It’s not the first time that a foreign manager who is in the Premier League to prove a point about their capability as a technician hasn’t understood the importance of youth integration to the fabric of British football culture.
Graham Potter is an excellent and informed choice for Chelsea
It’s an unsaid rule in British football that it takes people steeped in the culture of it to really know but we are all quietly much more patient with a manager who is playing youth. A pragmatic continental coach who is trying to achieve a career milestone before moving to another big team in another country wouldn’t feel the same way. Though it’s not something that we talk about the “well at least he played the youth” factor is a huge thing that managers get given credit for in England that has literally nothing to do with winning.
That is why it has been so interesting to see that Potter took to playing youth players immediately. Almost as many appearances have been made by youth players under Potter as purchased players. It’s no shock either that the team has looked more cohesive, competitive, and emotionally engaged.
Ultimately Potter seemed like the right choice if CFC were going to change managers. If everything that was rumored about Tuchel was true then a change was a fine move to make. It’s possible that in all fairness Chelsea burned through every bit of patience Tuchel had. In addition to the year, he had gone through his divorce, the sanctions, and the coronavirus epidemic all was about as high-stress and completely non-football as any manager has ever had to deal with.
It was interesting in fact that the Chelsea owners did logically challenge the previous thinking of “a manager needs a certain level of experience at another club” in order to manage CFC. Their suggestion that “why would failing at another club suggest you were ready for this one?” actually makes a lot of sense. If not for the recent, alarming and obvious xenophobia rising in the culture around the Premier League people would likely also suggest that it was a good thought. Usually, the promotion of a young and intelligent British manager who had proved himself at lower levels would be praised. So would investing in and promoting British youth. Interesting that in this case that doesn’t matter though.
Everyone being as anti-American as they apparently are has been saddening. It is almost as if they forget that one of the reasons the Premier League has as much money as it does is USA television audiences. Those audiences who wake up early, fly across oceans and wear shirts continents away are a huge part of the power of the brand that is the Premier League and why recently promoted teams like Nottingham Forrest are able to spend over 100 million in a single season. It appears that a huge amount of the commentators and people around the Premier League are incredibly pro all sorts of inclusivity except for Americans.
Do they feel the same about the work permits British nationals are given in the United States? Do they feel the same about the beneficial export/import relationship that America has with the United Kingdom? Probably not. Would they prefer that level of interest switch to Serie A? Another league in a country that has a large diaspora of immigrants in the United States. Would they prefer lower salaries for the players, themselves, and the scouts, doctors, and coaches in the league? That seems like it would be pretty unpopular.
The broadcasters like Gary Neville, who have felt completely safe spouting off their ridiculous and insulting theories seem to like American money. They like the rise in fame and fortune that comes with being broadcast in more countries to more people and the rise in salary that comes with it. The xenophobia in the media surrounding the league this year has been the most off-putting part of the season thus far. It’s true we can admit it there have been a large number of American buyers. A peculiar amount I admit. But why don’t British businessmen seem as interested in buying clubs if they feel so strongly?
I suppose what Neville really believes is that everyone should only be allowed to spend money in the country in which they were born and their dreams, hopes, ambitions, and thoughts should stay inside those countries too. That’s really inclusive and kind-hearted of him. He should probably tell his friend David Beckham to sell his shares in Inter Miami then, shouldn’t he?
The good news is it seems at the moment that the Eldridge/Clearlake have a plan and they’re working to make Chelsea a more sustainable and English organization. They’re also doing it in London. A hotbed of British talent that has oddly been overshadowed by the northern giants for too long. The capital should have a great team and people working to make that happen should be celebrated for it. Regardless of whether or not they hold a passport that Gary Neville approves of.
Is it not something that should be celebrated in fact that the Premier League have British and American owners. It also has Welsh, Thai, Czech, Chinese, Saudi, Emirati, Italian, and Greek owners. It is the most watched and beloved league in the world and the fact that people from all those countries feel compelled to invest not only financially but emotionally in the league is a great thing.
It is the fact that so many people around the world adore the league that makes it as wonderful as it is. It’s a global game. That’s why it’s the best one. That children in Rio de Janeiro, Jaipur, Oslo, Durban, Osaka, and Miami can have the same dream and be united by that dream speaks to the wonderful, weird magic of sports. Hopefully as the dramatics of sports as opposed to the world around them take hold this season people will settle into what makes football great and what it can do in the future rather than harnessing hate to hold it in the past.
The Blues are playing positive football with good, young, homegrown players who are being managed by a bright young British manager who has worked his way up through the footballing world on the back of his intellect, character, and unique ideologies. It is a good time to be doing things the Chelsea way for sure.