On Wednesday, during their match against Red Bull Salzburg, Chelsea supporters paid tribute to former manager Thomas Tuchel by applauding for one minute.
After replacing Tuchel this week, Graham Potter, the former manager of Brighton & Hove Albion, presided over the game for the first time. Only 15 months had passed since the previous manager had led Chelsea to Champions League victory.
The tribute, which took place on 21 minutes to commemorate Tuchel winning the European championship in 2021, was inspired by his victory in Europe. However, with the Blues earning just one point from their opening two group games, a repeat performance this year will be difficult to achieve.
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Having coached 100 games, Tuchel was fired. In the most recent, Chelsea had already dropped two of its first six Premier League games this season when Dinamo Zagreb defeated them 1-0 in their Champions League debut.
The decision to fire him allegedly startled the former Paris Saint-Germain manager. The day after the Zagreb game, he arrived at the training facility expecting to participate in the session as usual. Instead, he learned that team owner Todd Boehly had decided to fire him.
Boehly moved swiftly to find and hire a replacement as well. Potter joined the team the day after leaving Brighton, who at the time of the transfer were higher in the table than his new employers.
The first goal of the Potter era was scored by Raheem Sterling, one of the numerous new players Tuchel acquired in over the summer. However, Salzburg’s Noah Okafor equalized with 15 minutes remaining to deny the Premier League team a victory and drop them to the bottom of their group after two games.
After the game, Potter said to BT Sport, “We’re upset with the result. “I believed the boys gave it their all. Although their goalie made some excellent stops, we scored a terrific goal but fell behind a bit in the second half.
“It is what it is, and we must pick ourselves up. We will improve; personality and application were good. Raheem was put in one-on-one situations very frequently, and the goal was a good outcome. You always feel bad after giving up a goal. The defense played reasonably well overall, but we still need to work on the tiny nuances.
The boys have responded to us very well over the past few days, but it has not been easy for them. We will need to accept this as a lesson and work to improve. With the exception of the fact that we didn’t get three points, the attitude has been excellent. We will improve.