“Surely that man was working towards his dismissal at some point” – Ex-Belgium coach says Chelsea players ‘had enough’ of Tuchel before sack

Former Belgium boss Wesley Sonck was not surprised that Chelsea sacked Thomas Tuchel last week as the players 'had enough' of him by the end.

Tuchel was dismissed by the west London outfit following their 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League opener. The disastrous result compounded a difficult start to their Premier League campaign, as the Blues have only won three of their opening six games.

Despite the slow start, the German's sacking came as a shock to many, especially since Chelsea spent over £200 million in the summer transfer window.

However, former Sonck believes that Tuchel lost his job due to the players losing faith in him. He told Voetbal Primeur (as translated by Sport Witness):

“Surely that man was working towards his dismissal at some point. I always look at it from the players’ point of view. What happened with Lukaku is actually pushing him away. Pulisic also had to fill in once with the same feeling."

“That kind of trainer, you may say you need them and that they are professional, but if you act like that towards players, at some point they have had enough.”

Tuchel guided Chelsea to their second Champions League victory in 2021 thanks to a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the final. The German also won the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup with the Blues and also guided the club to both domestic cup finals last season.

Despite the tumultuous circumstances surrounding the club's ownership last term, Tuchel managed to guide Chelsea to a third-place finish.

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Graham Potter claims Chelsea job was too big to turn down

Former Brighton & Hove Albion boss Potter succeded Tuchel around 48 hours after the German was sacked. Potter was building an impressive side with Brighton, who are currently fourth in the Premier League, that plays extremely attractive football on a limited budget.

Following his appointment, the English boss told BBC Sport:

"You have to look at the tradition, the quality, size and ambition of the club here. It's a completely different challenge from the one I had at Brighton. I had three fantastic years there, but I'm very thankful to the owners here for putting their trust in me."

Potter added:

"My main job is to help the guys that are here, help them improve and put a team on the pitch that the supporters are proud of. We want to create our own team, our own identity so that it's recognizable. We'll fight every day for it."