Antonio Rudiger left Chelsea for Real Madrid. (Photo by THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images)
Speaking to The Guardian (h/t Football.London), former Chelsea and current Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger gave his honest opinion on the Blues sacking Thomas Tuchel at the start of this season.
Tuchel was sacked on September 7, hours after Chelsea lost to Dinamo Zagreb on the opening night of the Champions League group stage. Rudiger was a key part of the former manager’s team that won the Champions League in 2021.
The centre-back left Stamford Bridge in the summer after his contract expired. He joined the European champions Real Madrid as a free agent.
Here’s what Rudiger said regarding the sack Tuchel got and the manager’s time at Chelsea (h/t Football.London):
“He [Tuchel] took a lot of pressure from a lot of people away. Not only us players. You heard a lot from him. I think it was a very tiring situation for him.”
“You have to focus on your job as a manager and then you have all these political questions you have to answer. He was unbelievable.”
“It hit me [sack]. What he achieved in the club, even if it was under the old regime, it was a shock. He gets players that he wants and then all of a sudden he’s gone.”
Even though Chelsea have replaced Tuchel with a top manager in Graham Potter, the team hasn’t improved since the change. Moreover, if we look at the games before the World Cup break, the Blues looked short on confidence and structure from back to front.
Since Potter arrived in the middle of a season with no pre-season with the players, there would be leeway for him to get things right as we go deeper into this season after Boxing Day.
As for Rudiger, Chelsea do miss his presence and aggressive defending at the back. They replaced him with Kalidou Koulibaly, who in his own right is a top centre-back, has not settled in a Blues shirt yet.
The German international, who will represent his nation in Qatar, was a threat in set pieces too, something Potter’s men have lacked so far.
So, losing the two Germans has not fared well for Chelsea thus far. We as fans know how good Tuchel was in leading us to the Champions League win, along with handling a precarious situation very well in the second half of last season.
Was the sacking premature by the new owners? Probably so. But, we cannot judge Potter just yet. He would need this whole campaign to play out before starting to magnify into the performances of the Englishman’s team.
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