Chelsea sack Tuchel: Opta stats on impressive stint at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea’s dismissal of Thomas Tuchel has caught the footballing world by surprise, with his exit coming just a week after the close of the transfer window and a lavish spending spree.

The Blues are on the hunt for a new manager yet again, Todd Boehly swinging the axe in the same sort of fashion that predecessor Roman Abramovich would have – although Boehly’s approach seems far more fierce.

Defeats to Leeds United, Southampton and Dinamo Zagreb were certainly disappointing for the Blues but, with just six games gone in the Premier League and one game down in the Champions League, there was plenty of time to turn things around.

The hunt for Tuchel’s successor will be a difficult one, particularly given the strong record the German has boasted during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Here, Stats Perform dives into Opta’s insight into Tuchel’s spell in west London.

Delivering on all fronts

Tuchel leaves Chelsea with a 60 per cent win percentage across all competitions, with a 55.6 per cent percentage in the Premier League standing as the fourth highest in Blues’ history among managers to have taken charge of at least 50 matches.

In the Champions League, where Tuchel led Chelsea to glory just months after taking the job in January 2021, the German boasted an impressive 66.7 per cent win percentage in the competition.

It was in the FA Cup where Tuchel had the best return, with an 80 per cent win percentage having led the Blues to back-to-back finals, though they suffered defeat in both to Leicester City and Liverpool.

In 589 days in charge of Chelsea, Tuchel led the club to four major finals (2x FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League) and no manager has even taken charge of the Blues in more, with Jose Mourinho also boasting four.

Best of the rest

Unable to compete with Manchester City and Liverpool at the summit of English football, Chelsea firmly established themselves as the best of the rest under the guidance of Tuchel.

Under Tuchel’s leadership, Chelsea picked up 122 points from 63 Premier League matches with only City (152) and Liverpool (136) picking up more.

Chelsea’s return of 168 goals across all competitions under Tuchel was again beneath only the duo, with City netting 240 and Liverpool scoring 201.

With 49 clean sheets in 100 matches, Tuchel’s side stand head and shoulders above all their rivals though, City ranking second with 44 and Liverpool in third with 43.

Had them in the first half

Quickly finding steam with Chelsea, leading them to Champions League glory and the FA Cup final just months after taking the reins, Tuchel’s return in the first half of his stint with the Blues is impressive.

In all competitions, Tuchel’s first 50 games yielded 32 victories, 11 draws and seven defeats, with just 24 goals conceded.

A notable decline came in the final 50 matches of Tuchel’s spell, however, with four fewer wins (28), two more draws (11) and nine losses – though the most alarming stat is conceding 53 goals, over double the amount from his first 50.