All the talk about Thomas Tuchel’s sacking is that it wasn’t in response to the loss to Dinamo Zagreb in midweek, and instead that the owners had planned it from a few games before.
One can’t help but feel that a single hamstring twang to N’Golo Kante has ended up proving fatal for Tuchel’s time at the club.
Chelsea were playing their best football of the season and leading Tottenham 2-1 with minutes to play when the Frenchman limped off injured.
Moments later Spurs equalised, and Chelsea barely played a minute of good football in the 5 games following that. They managed to beat Leicester and West Ham – barely, but lost to Dinamo, Southampton and Leeds.
If Kante doesn’t pull up lame, Chelsea win that Tottenham game, and probably play a lot better in the weeks to follow.
Sacking Tuchel just wouldn’t have been on the cards then. Football is full of “sliding doors” moments, and this is one of them.