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Football London
Football London
Sport
Aaron Catterson-Reid

How Arsenal played surprise role in Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea sacking amid Graham Potter pressure

Arsenal have enjoyed a stellar 2022/23 Premier League campaign so far.

There is of course plenty of time remaining in the season but at this moment in time, the Gunners lead the league, sitting two points clear of second-placed Manchester City with a game in hand on Pep Guardiola and co. Mikel Arteta's side have looked like a greatly-improved team since their league opener against Crystal Palace back in August when they defeated the Eagles 2-0 at Selhurst Park.

But Arsenal fans will tell you that they knew a top season was coming off the back of their impressive pre-season performances. One game that specifically was noteworthy in the summer was when the north Londoners defeated Chelsea 4-0 in a dominating display in Orlando.

READ MORE: Arsenal star to 'decide' his future at end of season amid recent transfer exit links

Of course, pre-season isn't the be-all and end-all but goals from the emphatic performance certainly angered former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel at the time. "I think we deserved to lose - which is fair enough - because we were simply not good enough," Tuchel said at full-time.

"We were absolutely not competitive. The worrying part is the level of commitment, physically and mentally, for this match was not the same, it was far higher for Arsenal than us."

He added: "Unfortunately, it proved my point and the last week proves my point. I would prefer to not be right and I did everything to prove myself wrong, but at the moment I feel I was right when I look at the last season and at the parts of the game where we struggled and how we struggled.

"We got sanctioned and players left us, we know that some players are trying to leave us, and this is where it is. We had an urgent appeal for quality players and a huge amount of quality players. We've got two quality players - that is no doubt - but we are not competitive like this and unfortunately, we could see it today."

Now, The Telegraph have reported that the German's comments did not go down well at Stamford Bridge. Just a couple of months later the former Borussia Dortmund manager was relieved of his duties and replaced by Graham Potter.

Potter has struggled since arriving in west London, winning just nine of the 25 games in charge of the Blues, a run of form that sees his side currently sit tenth in the Premier League standings. Questions continue to mount over the former Brighton boss' future with the club however, football.london understands Potter still has the support of Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali and his job role is under no immediate threat at the time of writing.

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