Charles Jackson
Despite its strong end to the season Mauricio Pochettino will leave Chelsea by mutual consent after leading the Blues to sixth place, which will see them participate in the Europa League or Europa Conference League next season. Pochettino will depart after just 11 months, leaving owner Todd Boehly to figure out who will oversee next season in what has become a tumultuous two years in charge of the London club. Pochettino is now the fifth manager to coach a game for Chelsea during the American’s tenure at the club and has amassed a record of 26-11-14 in all competitions.
After finishing 12th with just 44 points in the 2022-23 season, the Blues improved to sixth place with 63 points in 2023-24. Since January 1st, only City of Manchester, ArsenalIt is Liverpool collected more than Chelsea’s 35 points. Now linked with the likes of Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna City of Leicester Enzo Maresca, Stuttgart Sebastian Hoeness, and Girona Michel, the Blues will need to act quickly to establish a new foundation ahead of a critical summer.
The new coach may not have the freedom to remake Chelsea’s squad because of the team’s financial concerns. This is why it makes sense that the currently linked managers have found success at clubs at the bottom of their respective leagues in terms of spending. It would be a departure from Chelsea’s style, but when the Blues have missed out on the Champions League for two seasons in a row, it could be a welcome departure.
The turmoil at Chelsea
After appointing two managers who were expected to oversee the long-term rebuilds of Graham Potter and Pochettino, only to see them both leave after a year or less, it is difficult to project what Chelsea’s aim is at the moment. Although things looked difficult at the start of Pochettino’s tenure, once he got his attack into shape, Nicolas Jackson It is Cole Palmer were able to lead Chelsea to victories without even seeing much of the Christopher Nkunku in the field. After being signed over the summer, the French striker made just 13 appearances in all competitions due to injuries during the season.
It’s a case of one step forward, two steps back for Chelsea as they now need to get their next manager right. Immense funds have been invested in building the current squad and, if things go well, they could qualify for the Champions League, but that is not enough to satisfy a club that between 2000 and 2021 won 23 titles. Just getting into competitions is not where Chelsea are expected to be, they should be winning competitions and without a Premier League title since 2017, it is something that will get worse the longer the Blues go without titles.
They feel further away from achieving that goal than when Boehly took charge of the club and are once again back to the drawing board on what the team and hierarchy will look like.
Potential candidates
- McKenna: One of the hottest names in management today, the current Ipswich Town manager became the first coach to oversee consecutive promotions from League One to the Premier League since 2012. He took over a struggling team and transformed it into a team that has scored over 180 points in two seasons, whilst also becoming the league’s top scorer, keeping pace with recently relegated teams of the league. . McKenna is also on Brighton’s list to replace Roberto DeZerbi and it should also be on from Manchester United list if they decide to move on from Erik ten Hag so that Chelsea can face competition for the 38-year-old manager.
- Maresca: Spending time in the Manchester City system as an under-23 coach and assistant manager, Maresca was coached by Pep Guardiola but later put his skills to the test at Leicester City, leading the Foxes to the top of the Championship despite selling James Madison and other players. Although they struggled at the start of 2024, Leicester City managed to collect 97 points, returning to the Premier League.
- Hoeness: Surprise runners-up finishers in the Bundesliga, Stuttgart’s season has been nothing short of impressive, returning to the Champions League for the first time since 2010. A once-proud German team that won the Bundesliga in 2007, Hoeness was able to bring the belief of back in the stands as he built a system behind Serhou Guirassy it was difficult to stop for the defenses. Hoeness is another young prospect at just 42 years old, but has 130 top-flight game experience between Hoffenheim and Stuttgart, which could make him the most likely manager on this list to meet Chelsea’s needs at the moment.
- Michelle: Making history with Girona by taking them to the Champions League, Michel built an aggressive system to always be at the front. They have accepted this and look set to finish third in La Liga, scoring the second most goals of any team behind only Real Madrid. Another coach linked to the City Football Group, Michel also has extensive top-flight experience that could help Chelsea, but the transition to the Premier League is challenging.
Can this work?
It’s a bit of a complicated question, because if a few more things went in Chelsea’s favor last season and they were a Champions League team, we wouldn’t have this conversion. But when coaches don’t have enough time to put their systems into action, it can become difficult to recruit players. Without titles, the Chelsea name will begin to lose its luster and, with financial constraints, it will be more difficult to pay exaggerated salaries to acquire top talent. So while things could see Chelsea return to the top four next season, there is also a world where the Blues go into Boxing Day looking for a new manager, and given the history we’ve seen, I’ll take that bet.
