The changes of managers at Chelsea

Since the arrival of Russian owner Roman Abramovich in 2003, Chelsea went from being a team with little significance in English football to one of the best clubs in Europe thanks to the great investment that the millionaire did. However, Abramovich’s patience was not great, so it became common for him to change managers frequently.

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In fact, Chelsea had 24 managers in its 98-year history before the Russian and with Abramovich, it had 17 in 19 years. That policy that, curiously, gave some good results at Chelsea, has been maintained even after the change of ownership happened in the London club.

After Roman Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea and it was acquired by the American Todd Boehly, the latter opted to keep the German manager Thomas Tuchel to, in a certain way, give continuity to what was already being done at the club. However, the relationship between the German and the American quickly fractured and Boehly did not hesitate to sack Tuchel in September of 2022, back when the 2022/23 season was just starting.

Chelsea made the decision to sign Graham Potter to be the new leader of Boehly’s nascent project who had already made a considerable investment in both the manager himself (he paid £16m to Brighton plus around £10m for five members of the staff who accompanied Potter to Stamford Bridge) as well as by various players such as Fofana, Sterling, Cucurella or Koulibaly. Potter gained a lot of fame in England with his very good work at Brighton & Hove Albion, although he already had a career of more than a decade as a manager, which was highlighted by his work at Ostersund in Sweden, taking them from the fourth division to the UEFA Europa League.

After a hopeful start with some good results that suggested a solid project for Potter at Chelsea, the losses began to come, starting a negative streak that continued until the break for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The return of club football coincided with the start of the January transfer window in Europe and Chelsea decided to make an even bigger investment than the one made in the summer. Badiashile, Joao Feliz, Mudryk, Madueke, and Enzo Fernández were some of the signings the club completed during January.

After the break, Chelsea only achieved 5 victories in all competitions, kicked out of the FA Cup at the hands of Manchester City, and very far from the fight for the Premier League title and even for the positions that give access to European competitions. Of course, they are still alive in the UEFA Champions League since they eliminated Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16 and are waiting for Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, although this was not enough for Potter to keep his position and he was sacked at the beginning of April.

The position of caretaker manager was assigned to Frank Lampard, a legend of the Blues as a player and who had already had a stint as their manager between 2019 and 2021. Lampard assumed the position on a caretaker basis until the end of the season, when the club decides whether to continue with him or look for another manager.

Lampard: "Some players have come in, give them time to settle… they have to understand what playing for Chelsea means" 🔵 #CFC

"They need to know what wearing the Chelsea badge means, the fans react to that. I guarantee the period I’m here for I’ll work on their development". pic.twitter.com/pVKnCAPOww

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 9, 2023