Kai Havertz reveals Chelsea squad left baffled after Thomas Tuchel was ‘sacked out of nowhere’ leading to dismal season
KAI HAVERTZ has revealed he was left baffled by Thomas Tuchel’s sacking “out of nowhere”.
Just 16 months after leading Chelsea to the Champions League, the German boss was dismissed as the ownership looked to stamp their authority.
Kai Havertz scored the winning goal in the 2021 Champions League final but has struggled for consistencyRichard Pelham / The Sun
But the Blues’ awkward start to the season under Tuchel was about as good as things would get in the entire campaign.
Graham Potter’s failed to get things going as Chelsea languished in mid-table before he was dismissed after only eight months.
Before Frank Lampard took over as caretaker and lost his first five games.
Chelsea striker Havertz has given his assessment of the disastrous campaign and revealed that the early sacking did not help the squad.
He told Kicker: “Everything that can go wrong went wrong for us this year.
“The season actually started relatively quietly. We had a change of ownership which was a big change for the club.
“And then Thomas Tuchel was fired, which of course always makes a difference in a team like this when you’ve been successful with a coach and he gets fired out of nowhere.
“Now we have our backs to the wall and are not [doing] very well in the table.
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“Of course it’s easy to find excuses. I’m not a fan of blaming everything on something else. At the end of the day, we’re all professional footballers and we have to win a game sometimes.”
Chelsea travel to Arsenal tonight looking to put a further spanner into their London rival’s title dreams.
And Havertz hopes to frustrate the Gunners.
He added: “We hope to tease Arsenal a little bit. They’re in the title fight now, which is where we want to be. And if you can beat your opponent, that’s always good for the fans.”
With nothing to play for, Chelsea have a further five dead rubbers before their miserable season ends.
The Blues currently sit 12th in the table and risk falling further.
Former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is widely expected to take over at Stamford Bridge in the coming weeks.