Chelsea co-owner, Todd Boehly, fired Thomas Tuchel as manager despite Antonio Rudiger’s desperate plea earlier this year.
Boehly took over from Roman Abramovich in May this year.
Abramovich had developed a reputation for chopping and changing managers with unerring regularity during his 19 years at Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel was the Russian’s final appointment, replacing Frank Lampard and guiding the Blues to the Champions League less than six months later.
But just seven competitive matches into the Boehly era, the new Chelsea custodian has wielded the axe, relieving Tuchel of his duties following the 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb.
In doing this, Boehly ignored a demand from one of the most prominent presences of Tuchel’s tenure – Antonio Rudiger.
Rudiger left the club as a free agent to join Real Madrid.
But upon his Chelsea departure, Rudiger pleaded with Chelsea bosses for a change in mentality when it came to hiring and firing managers – in particular Tuchel. “I hope for this club that the mentality changes of sacking coaches so early when success is not there,” Rüdiger told the Times in May.
“I like to trust the process and, with this coach, you can see there is a process. Chelsea can be very proud to have a coach like this. The way he handled himself. The way he handled things in those tough moments, you have to give him kudos for that, you have to give him credit for that.”
