Chelsea find themselves in an FA Cup final despite going through three managers this season.
Enzo Maresca departed on New Year’s Day after 18 months in charge, having won the Uefa Conference League and Club World Cup in his first season. He also oversaw Chelsea’s return to the Champions League thanks to a top-four finish in 2024-25.
Liam Rosenior was brought in to replace him, signing a six-and-a-half-year deal after leaving sister club Strasbourg. But he was sacked after just three months, with the Blues eighth in the league and holding a very slim chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
Calum McFarlane has taken charge for the rest of the season on an interim basis, having also been the man between Maresca and Rosenior. Chelsea have started the process of looking for a new manager ahead of next season to take their project forward.
Who should Chelsea appoint?
Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso would be a popular choice among Chelsea fans. The Spaniard would bring a blend of experience having already managed top clubs, winning trophies with Bayer Leverkusen. But he also has the pedigree as a player to demand respect.
Tactically, Alonso also comes under the bracket of young and exciting, wanting to dominate the ball. Bayer Leverkusen had more possession than Bayern Munich in their Bundesliga-winning season, ranking top in that metric. They also enforced themselves off the ball with intensity and purpose.
While Alonso was successful at Bayer Leverkusen while using aback three. But he was also successful early on with Real Madrid implementing a back four, showing his versatility to changing shape based on his personnel and what suits the squad best.
More important than shape, it’s about philosophy for Alonso. “We don’t talk much about 3-2-2-3 or 3-2-4-1. It’s more about what we think might happen in the game and where we should be to get an advantage,” he once said.
Alonso would have a strong group of players to work with at Chelsea from a technical standpoint. His biggest challenge would be resetting the culture and working on their off-ball capacity, finding the right blend between control and chaos.
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Andoni Iraola
Speaking of finding the right blend between control and chaos. Another manager in the running for the Chelsea job is Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola. The Spaniard, who will leave this summer, is largely known for his high-intensity principles both on and off the ball.
Iraola likes his side to press from a 4-1-3-2 out of possession shape, jumping into a man-to-man approach and looking to force turnovers in dangerous positions.
On the ball, due to the larger spacing between players, Iraola’s side often find themselves accelerating play with vertical passes or via carries. They look to beat players by dribbling and collapsing the opposition pressing scheme that way.
Bournemouth have the fourth-highest passes per defensive action (PPDA) in the Premier League this season. They also have the most direct attacks and third-highest direct speed.
Their intensity in the press connects to their attacking threat. Iraola wants his side to regain possession and find a direct route to goal before the opponent can reset into their defensive shape, which can create frantic environments.
A big question mark would be whether Chelsea have the players to maximise these ideas. Or whether Iraola would find a middle ground to suit the players at his disposal.
Cesc Fabregas
Another name that the Chelsea fans would likely love to see appointed is Cesc Fabregas. The former Chelsea midfielder is currently chasing Champions League qualification with Como in Italy.
Fabregas is the middle ground appointment that seems to make so much sense. He was a player at the highest level with that pedigree to command respect. He’s already adored by the fans and understands the club. But he also fits the bracket of a young and exciting coach with progressive ideas.
The Chelsea squad is also fairly well built for Fabregas to implement his ideas fairly quickly. His build up patterns are largely of positional framework which have been coached by both Maresca and Rosenior, before having a bit more fluidity in the final third during settled possession.
Fabregas wants his side to have control. His Como side have averaged the most possession per game in Serie A this season. They also boast the highest PPDA, winning the ball back early to sustain pressure and keep their control of the game.
Once his side have good settled possession, are controlling proceedings and can sustain pressure in the opposition half, Fabregas allows his players to seek advantages, utilising a principle called zone replacement.
This allows players to roam, combine and interchange across zones, replacing each other in vacated zones to keep their overall structure intact, often leaving four players behind the ball (two centre-backs and two midfielders) as the rest defence to protect against transitions.
Other options?
Some other names being mentioned include Premier League-experienced options such as Marco Silva, Oliver Glasner and even Eddie Howe.
You then have a pool of young and exciting managers from outside of England who could be of interest. The likes of Francesco Farioli, Sebastian Hoeness and Filipe Luis.
Of course, you also have some more unlikely names. Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique and even Thomas Tuchel have been linked previously. Or, in Tuchel’s case, have already worked for the club, which would be high calibre moves.
The decision Chelsea take will tell us a lot about their direction for the project moving forward. Do they opt for a more experienced name in an attempt to settle the group and add an authoritative figure going forward? Or do they go for an exciting manager who suits their original project idea, fitting the possession-based philosophy and possibly adding some more experienced players instead to give stability and leadership in the squad?