Liverpool have faced Bruno Saltor. Now for Calum McFarlane. There will be an interim manager in the Chelsea dugout on Saturday; not for the first time in this fixture, given that Saltor’s only game in charge, following Graham Potter’s sacking and before Frank Lampard became a slightly more permanent caretaker, was a 0-0 draw against Liverpool in 2023.
If their owners are engaging in the “self-reflection” they promised after Liam Rosenior’s sacking, they may care to note that as many people have taken charge of Chelsea in their four-year ownership – eight – as have led Liverpool this millennium; and that is including Phil Thompson, who only assumed the reins because Gerard Houllier was ill.
Or perhaps, still convinced of their genius, they are simultaneously preparing their next managerial appointment while finding more loopholes to avoid breaching financial regulations now it is apparent they won’t have Champions League football next season; something for which Liverpool, whose passage back into Europe has been eased by Chelsea’s run of six straight defeats, can be very grateful.
But Chelsea’s meltdown ought to illustrate that hints of a change of direction ought to be more than that. Since Clearlake Capital and BlueCo took over in 2022, they have sacked a Champions League-winning manager, in Thomas Tuchel, and made four hires. Potter and Rosenior were horribly out of their depth. Mauricio Pochettino was the most qualified but happy to leave after a year. Enzo Maresca could be called a qualified success but in effect talked himself out of a job. Which, in turn, may not help Chelsea’s search for a successor. Word about the prospective employers can get around the managerial grapevine and the chances are that few of the managers to encounter BlueCo will speak well of them.
They have tried to downgrade the job, assuming they knew best, despite the contrary evidence their often ridiculous recruitment offers. They have promoted coaches who lacked the track record to manage elite clubs, with the result they were seen as yes-men; until Maresca, with some outspoken interventions, showed himself capable of independent thought.
None of which renders it easy to recruit candidates with more credibility or experience. Especially given the context. Chelsea should have a diminishing appeal. For the third time in four years, they will have no Champions League football. They have an unhappy fanbase, a feckless squad, vast numbers of players. There are problems with the culture and the team. BlueCo can talk of learning their lessons, looking to bring in more senior players; some would want to see the proof before believing them. While there is easy scope to improve upon a meagre total of 48 points, the best case for arguing Chelsea do well next year is that, like Manchester United now, they benefit from a European exile. The counter-argument is that, under BlueCo, they will always be less than the sum of their costly parts.
Supposed shortlists of managers can involve an element of fantasy. Of course Cesc Fabregas would be a popular appointment. He can also take Como into Europe and wait, in the knowledge he would be the obvious choice if a vacancy came along at Arsenal and Barcelona, two of his other former clubs, or at many a Serie A giant. He surely does not need to go to Chelsea.
Nor, logically, does Xabi Alonso, whose movements are of particular interest to those in the Liverpool fanbase who want Arne Slot gone. The Basque’s brief, bruising time at Real Madrid has interrupted the upward trajectory of his career; yet his reputation should remain sufficiently high to mean he can do better. His feats at Bayer Leverkusen could mean that, whenever Vincent Kompany leaves Bayern Munich, he tops the Bavarians’ wishlist.
Andoni Iraola can top the betting, is leaving Bournemouth and will not be returning to the club he represented more than 500 times, with Athletic Bilbao instead appointing Edin Terzic. But Iraola seems to like life out of the limelight. He has achieved great feats at Bournemouth while under little pressure on winless runs. None of it makes Chelsea a natural destination.
Another to overachieve with a smaller club, Oliver Glasner, had a fractious relationship with the Crystal Palace powerbrokers at times. That scarcely fits the BlueCo mould of people who would toe the line.
Marco Silva could be a third manager who is available without compensation after excelling elsewhere in the Premier League. He may be likelier to take Chelsea than any of the others, too. He might, realistically, be the best they can get.
But BlueCo may have already cost the former Chelsea left-back Filipe Luis a job, with suggestions Flamengo sacked their Copa Libertadores-winning manager for talking to them; about replacing Rosenior at Strasbourg, apparently. The Brazilian may be scarred but is still out of work. So is Xavi Hernandez, who The Independent understands is a target, though whether a La Liga winner needs this Chelsea is a moot point.
But who does? One of the early sceptics about BlueCo, a man who mocked Boehly’s idea of importing an All-Star game from the United States, was a Premier and Champions League-winning manager: Jurgen Klopp. In 2024, he said he would not have lasted a year at Liverpool had they been in charge. Managers are hired to make decisions, but sometimes their finest choices are which jobs not to take. The danger for Chelsea is that their reputation deters high-class coaches after four years of incoherent buying and clueless ownership.