The discussion in the Chelsea boardroom on Monday was fraught. There was a nagging concern. Chelsea were facing Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Champions League game the next day and would likely win. Quite possibly, they would win well. Yet the decision had already been taken to sack Thomas Tuchel. How would it look, the board pondered, to sack a manager after a decent, victorious start to the Champions League?
They need not have worried. Chelsea continued in the same vein as they have done all season, following on from the defeat against Southampton and the fortunate win against West Ham, where VAR was their saviour, with a 1-0 defeat in Zagreb.