Rio Ferdinand mocks Boehly over Tuchel sacking and makes wild Mendy guess
Rio Ferdinand has criticised and mocked Todd Boehly over the sacking of Thomas Tuchel and believes Edouard Mendy has something to do with it.
Chelsea’s new owner sent Tuchel on his way after Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, appointing Graham Potter as his replacement the very next day.
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Various reports claim the German’s dismissal was in the offing for a while but it took Ferdinand – who had interviewed Tuchel days before – by surprise.
“It’s a big thing with a manager being sacked and the way it happened,” Ferdinand said on his FIVE YouTube channel.
“I met him and did an interview with him just prior to that about his Chelsea team and the way it’s structured and his plans going forward. It was just really mad and it was surreal really when I heard the news coming through because the way he was talking to me on and off screen was like he was delighted to be there.
“I’ve spoken to people behind the scenes and from good sources it was as much a surprise too the coaching staff as it was to everyone outside. The staff had spent a lot of time speaking to the owners and from what I’m told Tuchel and his team had never had as much engagement with owners at any point in their careers.
“There’s hands on and there’s too much. From what I hear they were getting their noses too into things that should be left to a manager.”
Reports have claimed Boehly was trying to influence the formations and players selected by Tuchel, and Ferdinand couldn’t resist mocking the American owner over what the pundit clearly believes is a lack of knowledge of football…
“Can you get away with one extra player on the pitch?” the former defender joked. “I’ve heard those stories, they’re trying to influence even player selection and when you get to that point you can start to understand why a manager would have some pushback.
“Tuchel, the personality and character he is, he wouldn’t have accepted that, some other characters will do as new owners say but Thomas Tuchel isn’t that guy.
“Why let him have the money if you knew you were always going to get rid of him?”
Ferdinand then claimed (guessed) that goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was a source of friction between Boehly and Tuchel.
“There are a lot of wild opinions being said behind the scenes with formations and individual players that the new ownership want out of the team,” he added. “I think [Edouard] Mendy would have been one of them in terms of kicking the ball.
“I don’t know if an owner should even be talking about that, the manager is there to deal with that. You employ people that are professionals in that area. It will be interesting to see if they have that involvement with Potter.
“I think it’s a clear understanding of football. It has to be. It’s very different in American sports teams. I don’t know any other business that allows someone at the helm to spend that money and then let someone else run it.
“I hope it works out for him, I really do.”