Given the crippling pressure facing some of his Premier League counterparts, few would have expected Thomas Tuchel would become the second managerial casualty of the season, following in Scott Parker's footsteps.
Yet Chelsea owner Todd Boehly made the ruthless decision to sack the highly-regarded German on Wednesday morning, following a mixed start to the domestic campaign and a humiliating 1-0 defeat by Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. It was a competition Tuchel and his Blues triumphed in only 16 months earlier, so it was no surprise to see the good and the great of the punditry world promptly criticise his dismissal.
On the surface, Boehly's decision appears a brutal one, especially as he was informed of his sacking via a blunt 10-minute phone call, bringing an end to his one-and-a-half years in West London. He departs Stamford Bridge having won 60 per cent of his games in charge, comparable to Jurgen Klopp's 60.9 per cent ratio at Liverpool, and having reached four major finals.
However, looking beyond the obvious cruel nature of the 49-year-old's sacking, Boehly's reasons for wielding the axe are clear and plentiful. The breakdown of relations between Tuchel and the Chelsea supremo took just 100 days after the latter purchased the club from Roman Abramovich.
The Bavaria native is known for his combustible nature - almost as much as his mastery of coaching - and vowed he would attempt to be "more relaxed and not to be too stubborn" upon his appointment as Chelsea manager. A glance at his track record lays bare why this promise was a necessary one.
After five successful years at Mainz, in his first senior managerial role, Tuchel found himself at loggerheads with the board as he asked to leave the club despite having one year left on his contract. He eventually prevailed and later argued it was impossible for Mainz to "reinvent" themselves again in the summer transfer window. If that was a sign Tuchel is more suited to a short-term project, it was on the money.
Having become a free agent in 2014, he joined Borussia Dortmund the following year and did all he could to topple Bayern Munich's dominance of the German game. Tuchel - a renowned perfectionist who saw his career as a defender ended by a knee injury in his mid-20s - led the Westphalian club to the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) in May 2017 - and was sacked three days later.
His fractious relationship with Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke was well-documented - startlingly so - as the duo clashed over transfer activity and the status of long-serving players. Tuchel would later testify in court that the horrific bomb attack on the Dortmund team bus in 2017 contributed to heightened tensions with Watzke and, ultimately, to his exit.
Following another year out of the game, Tuchel was appointed Paris Saint-Germain manager in 2018, putting him on a collision course with club chiefs just as strong-willed as Watzke, this time sporting directors Antero Henrique and later Leonardo. It would be remiss not to highlight Tuchel's brilliant work with the French giants, with whom he won four major honours - including the domestic treble in 2020 - and reached the Champions League final.
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It was a glittering spell at the Parc des Princes in which Tuchel shattered numerous records in Ligue 1 and established himself as a world-class manager. Conversely, it was also a troubled two-and-a-half years during which the situation only grew more toxic behind the scenes.
Even in his first summer transfer window, Tuchel was unhappy with the PSG hierarchy's failure to strengthen his full-back options. Two years later, he voiced his displeasure at the releases of Edinson Cavani, Thomas Meunier and club captain Thiago Silva at the expiry of their contracts, as well as a number of academy prospects.
Things came to a head in late December 2020, when he delivered a controversial interview claiming he felt more like "a sports politician or sports minister than a coach" in the French capital. One day later, on Christmas Eve, Tuchel was delivered the not-so-festive news he had been sacked despite PSG winning their Champions League group and sitting one point behind the Ligue 1 leaders.
He was quickly back to work this time around, replacing Frank Lampard in the Stamford Bridge hot seat one month later. In many ways, the Abramovich era was well-suited to Tuchel, with the Russian oligarch preferring to stay out of the limelight and Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia striking up a good relationship with the new manager.
This partnership brought the Blues unprecedented success as they followed up their second European crown with FIFA Club World Cup glory for the first time in their history. But more unprecedented times were only around the corner as Abramovich was sanctioned in March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine due to his "long and close ties to Vladimir Putin ".
Among other things, these sanctions prevented Chelsea from agreeing new contracts with players and limited them to a budget for their away travels, with the former restrictions contributing to Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen's summer exits. Although the start of the Boehly era in late May saw the constraints lifted, the situation did not improve for a drained Tuchel, who had given thoughtful answers to questions he should never have had to face throughout the sanctioning while those above him hid away.
The origins of tension between Tuchel and Boehly emerged after Granovskaia's departure in June, which led to the Chelsea owner taking up the mantle of interim sporting director. Tuchel was burdened with a greater say in transfer activity - a responsibility he did not want and believed detracted his focus from training pitch duties. He said as much during the club's pre-season tour of the United States.
Perhaps things could have worked in the new diarchy of Tuchel and Boehly were a unified front but, as it it happened, they had starkly different objectives in the transfer window. While the German favours the collective and players who will buy into his high-pressing, defensively-resolute ideology, Boehly was keen to kick off his reign with some marquee signings, with Chelsea's spend totalling £272million this summer.
This was evident during the Cristiano Ronaldo dispute, whereby the Blues owner aimed to give the wantaway Manchester United superstar a route out of Old Trafford, only for Tuchel to oppose his plans. The duo's vastly-different approaches extended further, too, with Tuchel having little time for Boehly's WhatsApp group aimed at improving communication and discussing transfers, as reported by the Daily Telegraph.
Chelsea's statement confirming Tuchel's departure emphasised the need for a "transition" and the club to move "forward". Ultimately, it had taken Boehly just 100 days to realise his manager was not going to change his entrenched ways and meet his demands, despite the promise he delivered upon his appointment.
