The German tactician is poised to leave Bayern Munich, and there are seemingly few downsides to reinstating him at Stamford Bridge
"I am devastated that my time at Chelsea has come to an end. This is a club where I felt at home, both professionally and personally. I am honoured to have been a part of this club’s history and whatever the future holds for me, the memories of the last 18 months will always have a special place in my heart."
Those were Thomas Tuchel's heartfelt words after he was unceremoniously sacked by Chelsea's newly-installed ownership group just weeks into the 2022-23 season; a man who had the potential to hold the position for years to come and become a legacy manager for Chelsea in the mould of Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Jurgen Klopp, brutally and unexpectedly axed at the first sign of friction with his new employers.
But in a twist of fate – or a quirk of the managerial merry-go-round – Chelsea could find themselves looking for a new head coach this summer, just as Tuchel is searching for a new job. With Mauricio Pochettino living on borrowed time, Todd Boehly and Co may have an opportunity to put right one of the most egregious decisions of their stewardship to date.
GettyGoing nowhere fast
Pochettino really, needed to win the Carabao Cup final. In form and coming up against Jurgen Klopp's injury-ravaged Liverpool side in Sunday's Wembley showpiece, this was a golden opportunity for the Argentine to shake the tag of lovable loser and reunite a splintered fanbase with a much-needed trophy.
But Chelsea blew it, spurning numerous chances and fatally sitting deep in extra-time in the hope of reaching penalties, with Virgil van Dijk towering to head a late winner for the Reds. Now, their chances of achieving any semblance of success this season are extremely slim at best.
The club's hierarchy will supposedly only review Pochettino's position at the end of the season, but if things do not improve drastically between now and then he will have very little to show for his work, with Chelsea still struggling to escape the clutches of mid-table in the Premier League. The FA Cup could offer some salvation, but the Blues are far from favourites with Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United all still in contention there.
Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesAn untenable position
While performances on the pitch have certainly undermined Pochettino's durability in the role, an undercurrent of toxicity off it has left him in a seemingly untenable position.
Despite being viewed as technically the right man for the job of galvanising a young Chelsea squad and guiding them through a transition, he has never been fully accepted by a demanding and often fickle fanbase – almost entirely a result of his enduring connection with fierce London rivals Tottenham.
His case has not been helped by the supporters' reception to some of his honest views on the club's current standing, including labelling them 'mid-table' and admitting Liverpool were far superior rather than pointing to questionable refereeing decisions in the recent 4-1 thumping in the league.
You will never hear his name reverberating around Stamford Bridge, for example, and indeed the atmosphere at home games has soured to an alarming extent over the past 12 months, with the slow progress under Pochettino only deepening the gloom in the first half of 2023-24.
There were widespread calls for his head when Chelsea's form took a nosedive at the turn of the month. Those became muted during an improved three-game unbeaten spell, but the cup final defeat was more than enough to crank up the volume again.
It has already reached the point where it feels like it will take a miracle to win over a fanbase that is very much ready to see him lose his job.
Time for togetherness
As a result of all of that, it feels increasingly likely that the Chelsea hierarchy will decide to cut ties with Pochettino when they sit down to review his position at the end of the season – barring significant movement up the Premier League table or an unlikely FA Cup crown.
If their decision-makers do find themselves having to appoint what would already be the fifth manager of their brief stewardship, then reunifying the fanbase and restoring a long-lost connection between the coaches, playing staff and the supporters must be one of their highest priorities. Tuchel's return would achieve that.
Despite Chelsea's inconsistent form in the second half of his tenure and question marks over his man-management as time went on, the German tactician is still revered by the Stamford Bridge faithful – thanks in no small part to the remarkable Champions League triumph in 2021, and his tactful handling of one of the most torrid periods in the club's modern history, as it went through an enforced change of ownership under government sanctions on former owner and oligarch Roman Abramovich, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
'Super Tommy Tuchel' just seemed to get it. Indeed, it's been reported that he aligned more closely with Chelsea than any other club he has managed, and that feeling was and is still reciprocated by the supporters – with the vast majority unexpectedly arriving at the conclusion that he was the perfect fit. He would be welcomed back with open arms.
GettyBoehly in the back seat
One thing that contributed to Tuchel's eventual demise was his clear frustration at having to work closely with then-self-appointed sporting director Boehly on transfer strategy in the summer of 2022, which he clearly felt was taking him away from his coaching responsibilities.
“I am in contact with Todd directly on a daily basis, and sometimes more than once on a daily basis,” Tuchel said at the time. "My concern is for the team to be competitive. This is where my focus is and has to be. For this we have to invest a lot of time and we need to be hands-on. There is no other way.
"It is very time-consuming. It’s not my favourite thing to do and in the long run the focus has to be on coaching because it is why I am here."
Things would be different now, though, with Boehly since taking more of a back seat following a fairly disastrous transfer window that summer. The majority of the responsibility for identifying targets has now been passed down to sporting directors Lawrence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, although it is still described as a collaborative effort alongside the manager.
Pochettino has said that he is in contact with the hierarchy "every single day", but Tuchel should expect to be more hands-off with this new structure, having input on his own terms.