Premier League
Chelsea sack Tuchel after Champions League defeat by Zagreb
Chelsea sacked manager Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday the day after his team suffered a shock 1-0 defeat away by Dinamo Zagreb in their opening game of the Champions League.
The Premier League club confirmed on its website that they had parted company with the German coach who guided Chelsea to Champions League glory in his first season.
“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, the Club would like to place on record its gratitude to Thomas and his staff for all their efforts during their time with the Club,” the club said.
“Thomas will rightly have a place in Chelsea’s history after winning the Champions League, the Super Cup and Club World Cup in his time here.”
While Chelsea have not started the season especially well, having lost two of their opening six Premier League games, Tuchel’s exit is still a surprising move.
He made an instant impact when replacing club great Frank Lampard in January 2021, reviving the team’s Premier League season and taking them to the Champions League final where they beat Manchester City.Under Tuchel Chelsea also won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup last season.
Chelsea finished third in the Premier League last season as their expected challenge to Manchester City and Liverpool’s domestic dominance failed to materialise.
They also reached the FA Cup and League Cup finals, losing to Liverpool on penalties on each occasion.
Tuchel, formerly manager of Paris St Germain and Borussia Dortmund, is the first managerial casualty since new American owner Todd Boehly took over the club.
Sept 7 (Reuters) – Chelsea sacked manager Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday the day after his team suffered a shock 1-0 defeat away by Dinamo Zagreb in their opening game of the Champions League.
The Premier League club confirmed on its website that they had parted company with the German coach who guided Chelsea to Champions League glory in his first season.
“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, the Club would like to place on record its gratitude to Thomas and his staff for all their efforts during their time with the Club,” the club said.
“Thomas will rightly have a place in Chelsea’s history after winning the Champions League, the Super Cup and Club World Cup in his time here.”
While Chelsea have not started the season especially well, having lost two of their opening six Premier League games, Tuchel’s exit is still a surprising move.
He made an instant impact when replacing club great Frank Lampard in January 2021, reviving the team’s Premier League season and taking them to the Champions League final where they beat Manchester City.
Under Tuchel Chelsea also won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup last season.
Chelsea finished third in the Premier League last season as their expected challenge to Manchester City and Liverpool’s domestic dominance failed to materialise.
They also reached the FA Cup and League Cup finals, losing to Liverpool on penalties on each occasion.
Tuchel, formerly manager of Paris St Germain and Borussia Dortmund, is the first managerial casualty since new American owner Todd Boehly took over the club.
“As the new ownership group reaches 100 days since taking over the Club, and as it continues its hard work to take the club forward, the new owners believe it is the right time to make this transition,” the statement said.
Fans of the club were familiar with managerial sackings during the long reign of previous owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, but Tuchel’s departure after 100 games in charge of the club was unexpected.
The club backed Tuchel to the tune of 250 million pounds ($286.18 million) in the summer transfer window with the likes of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly arriving.
But performances have been unconvincing with defeats at Leeds United and Southampton in the Premier League and Tuesday’s 1-0 loss away to Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb.
After the Southampton defeat Tuchel accused his players of “not being tough enough”.
Tuchel leaves with a win percentage of 60% but Chelsea won only seven of their last 16 Premier League matches and the new owners clearly felt it was a trend that could not continue.
Attention will now turn to Tuchel’s successor with Brighton & Hove Albion manager Graham Potter and former Tottenham Hotspur and PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino amongst the early front runners for the west Londoners.
“Chelsea’s coaching staff will take charge of the team for training and the preparation of our upcoming matches as the Club moves swiftly to appoint a new head coach,” the club said.
“There will be no further comment until a new head coach appointment is made.”
-Reuters
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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