"That’s a statement" - Former Chelsea star wants club to hire Zinedine Zidane as their next manager
Former Chelsea star Glen Johnson has advised the Blues to pursue Zinedine Zidane as their next manager following Graham Potter's sacking.
The Englishman believes the former Real Madrid boss would have an instantaneous impact on the West London outfit's performances if he was hired.
Johnson told DAZNbet (via football.london):
"When we talk about people walking through the doors and making an instant impact, blimey if Zidane walked through the doors at Stamford Bridge and into that dressing room - that’s a statement. Whether or not he wants to do it is a different question, but I think that would excite everybody."
He added:
"It depends on where he is in his life at the moment, because I am pretty sure he is having a good time! When you get top players that become top managers, there is nothing that man hasn’t done that would be a huge impact and super exciting for anything involved with Chelsea."
Chelsea have been in disappointing form this season, spending the majority of the campaign in the middle of the table under Potter. The Blues have only won ten games so far this term after 28 league encounters.
The West London outfit recently suffered a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa at home, which was quite likely the tipping point for Potter at the club. Chelsea moved down to the bottom half of the table (11th) following the defeat, and the English boss was sacked shortly after.
Zidane would certainly bring with him years of top-flight experience, having won the Champions League thrice in a row as Real Madrid boss. It remains to be seen who will be appointed as the next permanent head coach at Stamford Bridge.
"He didn’t want him there" - Glen Johnson makes interesting claim about former Chelsea manager's sacking
Johnson has suggested that Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly wanted to fire Thomas Tuchel as soon as he purchased the club. The Englishman pointed out the German boss' expeditious sacking by the West London outfit as he was let go early in the 2022/23 campaign.
Speaking about the club's owners, Johnson said (as per the aforementioned outlet):
"Well these football owners nowadays are extremely businessmen and definitely intelligent, but they aren’t super intelligent with everything they do. They have a select skillset, but for someone who hasn’t been in football for very long, like Boehly, you would have thought he would build a team around him who has that experience."
The former Chelsea defender added:
"We don’t know who has pulled the plug, but I cannot imagine it would be just one man. Any top team would want Thomas Tuchel, they’d bite their arm off to have him. And it was Boehly’s first order of business to let him go. We know as soon as he bought the club, he didn’t want him there, because there simply wasn’t enough time for them to have fallen out."
The Blues will next face Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in a Premier League away fixture on April 4.