Thomas Tuchel "Lucky" Not To Be Fired By Roman Abramovich For "Disappointing" Chelsea Season

Gabriel Agbonlahor believes that Thomas Tuchel would have been fired by Chelsea this season had Roman Abramovich still been calling the shots as usual.

Since buying Chelsea in 2003, big-spender Abramovich developed a reputation for being ruthless in his pursuit of success.

This ruthlessness has helped Chelsea win 21 trophies during his reign but it has also seen 14 managerial changes, with Jose Mourinho sacked twice despite winning three Premier League titles.

Current manager Tuchel has already achieved impressive success with the Blues, leading them to Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup glory after being appointed in January 2021.

But Chelsea have endured a disappointing run of form since the start of April. They have won just four of their 10 games in that period and have exited this season's Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel pictured shouting at his players during their 2-2 draw with Wolves

IMAGO/Pro Sports Images/Nigel Keene

Chelsea's slump in form has coincided with uncertainty in the boardroom.

Abramovich put the club up for sale on March 2 and was then sanctioned by the UK government eight days later for his alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Former England and Aston Villa striker Agbonlahor thinks that had Abramovich not been distracted and had his hands tied by sanctions, he would likely have dispensed of Tuchel.

"I think that Chelsea have underachieved this season," Agbonlahor told talkSPORT on Saturday.

"In any other season under Abramovich, Tuchel would have been sacked for this season's performance.

"When you look at the quality players that they've got and the squad of players that they've got - [Hakim] Ziyech, [Kai] Havertz, [Romelu] Lukaku, [Christian] Pulisic - they've got so many top, top players.

"But if Arsenal win tomorrow, they're [only] one point above Arsenal.

"Look at the squads of both Arsenal and Chelsea. Tuchel has been disappointing this season and he's lucky to still be in the job, for me."

Arsenal did win their game in hand on Sunday, beating Leeds 2-1, so they are now just one point below Chelsea with three rounds of fixtures left to play.

Chelsea should be under new ownership by the end of the month.

The club published a statement over the weekend to announce that a consortium led by Todd Boehly had won its bid to buy the club for £4.25 billion.

Boehly was then in attendance at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to watch Chelsea blow a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Wolves.