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BlueCo's Managerial Mess: Have Chelsea's Owners Learnt From Past Mistakes? 1
Chelsea under BlueCo ownership has been more stressful than exciting. Having bought the club in May 2022 from Roman Abramovic, a consortium comprising of: Todd Boehly, Mark Walter, Clearlake Capital, José E. Feliciano, Hansjörg Wyss and Behdad Eghbali set out to change a great deal of how Chelsea were perceived, across every facet of the club.
They overhauled the recruitment department and built a new philosophy around signing players of a certain age profile who would fit the club’s new identity, both on and off the pitch.
But the one thing the club has failed to find is a stable managerial presence who can transcend the project and see that new philosophy through.
With five permanent Head Coaches at the helm in the past four seasons, with Xabi Alonso now the sixth entering a fifth season, what were BlueCo’s past mistakes?
Thomas Tuchel (January 2021 – September 2022)
Thomas Tuchel was effectively the first manager of the BlueCo era, as the current owners inherited the German coach from the previous owner Roman Abramovic.
But following a poor start to the 2022/23 campaign and after just 100 days under the new ownership, he was sacked for poor performances on the pitch; his last game was a 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
At the time there was uproar, as he had been seen as the face of Chelsea through difficult times and the decision was viewed as premature. There was some truth to the idea that the club had not fully backed the manager.
But Tuchel was not a fan favorite amongst the then new ownership. Following his sacking, reports emerged over a fractured relationship with Todd Boehly. The Guardian reported that the relationship between the pair had unravelled where communication had all but stopped.
During the first transfer window of the ownership, Todd Boehly acted as interim sporting director whilst the club searched for a permanent long-term structure. There were reports on how the club would “foist” players onto Tuchel even if he didn’t want them.
To put it simply: BlueCo preferred younger players with a long-term squad building plan in mind with a more collaborative club-wide recruitment structure.
Tuchel wanted a greater influence over which players would suit his team in the present which included considerations of personality, tactical fit and whether he actually wanted or needed the player.
Graham Potter (September 2022 – April 2023)
Graham Potter took over from Thomas Tuchel in September on a long-term deal, and he too was tasked with being the official face of the new project under the ownership.
Todd Boehly in particular liked his data-oriented approach to football, with his time at Brighton & Hove Albion showing his ability to get the best out of young talent in the squad. The club hoped that over time, he would grow into the job and be the future moving forward.
But there was a problem: he arrived to find a very bloated squad after the club had failed to sell majority of the players at their disposal who were no longer required.
There were baffling decisions made by the club, who bought young talent under the age of 24 and awarded significantly longer contracts to stretch amortisation costs over time.
Most of the players were tied to multi-year contracts, sometimes running to seven years. It has been argued that this may have been a clever “loophole”.
Potter was also not settled on a particular formation which contributed to the lack of consistency his team had.
Whilst Potter did have a positive start to life at Chelsea, with six wins in his first nine games in all competitions, poor form soon set in following a 4-1 defeat to Brighton, where tactical problems became clear.
At times he would deploy the team in a back five or a back four, but players were out of sorts.
Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kai Havertz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were among the players used out of position whilst new signings Mykhailo Mudryk, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella and David Datro Fofana struggled to adapt to life at the club, where they were integrated into a squad that lacked a clear plan or culture to help them find form and consistency.
Inconsistent form in both the Premier League and Champions League meant BlueCo’s new man had little time to convince fans.
BlueCo wanted to give Potter the benefit of the doubt that results would turn around and that the following season would be better.
However, following a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa, the fans had seen enough with their side sitting 11th and Potter suffering his eleventh defeat in 31 games since replacing Tuchel. The club reluctantly brought his tenure to an end, sacking him on 2nd April 2023, with 10 games to go in the Premier League.
The owners were very disappointed at the time, having considered him the chosen one. Frank Lampard came in as interim manager until the end of the season with Chelsea finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League.
Mauricio Pochettino (29 May 2023 – 21 May 2024)
Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival was nothing short of controversial heading into the 2023/24 season, mainly down to his close ties with Tottenham who are one of Chelsea’s biggest rivals.
His philosophy of football was about heavy transitions in attack, intense pressing and central penetration in the box.
Following his arrival, the club recruited more young players who would suit his style of football. The biggest hits were landing striker Nicolas Jackson, goalkeeper Robert Sánchez, Axel Disasi from AS Monaco, Romeo Lavia from Southampton, Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig and Moisés Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion, ushering in a new era at Stamford Bridge.
The likes of Édouard Mendy, Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovačić, César Azpilicueta and Kalidou Koulibaly all left the club.
Predominantly lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Chelsea’s games were action-packed affairs that could swing either way. Although they were not consistently winning games early on, they found an identity and performed admirably in the domestic cups.
They went all the way to the Carabao Cup final, where they lost to Liverpool whilst they also reached the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City, who they also lost to at Wembley.
The connection between Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer was evident, as the pair contributed 14 and 22 goals respectively in 2023/24. A five-game winning run to end the season saw them finish 6th on 63 points, but they had to settle for a UEFA Conference League finish after Manchester United won the FA Cup which saw them take the final Europa League spot despite finishing in 8th.
Despite some level of progress made after the previous season’s debacle, Pochettino and Chelsea mutually parted ways after the season had ended.
It was reported that the manager wanted to be more involved with the transfer department, something the owners were not willing to give him.
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Pochettino wanted more ready-made players to help balance his squad. But despite his preference, BlueCo remained firm on their preference for younger players.
Despite progress on the pitch, it did not guarantee long-term stability off it.
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Enzo Maresca (June 2024 – January 2026)
Following the departure of Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea appointed Enzo Maresca as the new Head Coach.
BlueCo believed the Italian aligned with their vision for the club in developing younger players whilst playing an attractive style of football based on controlling possesion and being well calculated in the moments without it.
Enzo Maresca started the 2024/25 Premier League campaign with a loss to Manchester City, but his blueprint was all over the team early on.
The campaign was murky, but progress was being made throughout. They finally gained traction and were in and around Champions League qualification, which they then sealed in the last game of the season.
In Europe, they won the UEFA Europa Conference League and as a result, the 2024/25 campaign proved to be a very successful season given the wider expectations, with hope for better things to come. They also went on to claim the inaugural expanded FIFA Club World Cup during the summer in 2025.
However, the 2025/26 season was one to forget for all parties. After a stuttering start, they struggled to get over the line in most matches, with fatigue from the previous season starting to take a toll and reducing their ability to compete in all competitions.
Following victory over Everton in the Premier League, Enzo Maresca made comments after the match where the Italian stated how he hadn’t felt supported internally and how the previous 48 hours were the worst he had experienced whilst at the club.
Not too long after these comments, Enzo Maresca left his Head Coach role at Chelsea at the beginning of January. Just six months after Club World Cup glory as well as a successful 2024/25 campaign, yet another coach had problems with the club’s structure.
BlueCo had to rip up the script and start again.
Liam Rosenior (January 2026 – April 2026)
Liam Rosenior was not supposed to be Chelsea’s manager around January 2026, at least not until the end of the season. Maresca’s departure caused a major blip in their plans.
As part of BlueCo’s multi-club model, he had been working well within the structure and taking Strasbourg to new heights, having secured qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League during 2024/25.
He was seen by BlueCo as the obvious choice to take over at Chelsea, given assurances that the rest of the 2025/26 season would serve as a measuring stick before he went into the new season fully backed.
He started his tenure fairly well, winning an FA Cup tie against Charlton Athletic, but then endured a five-game losing streak in which Chelsea failed to score a single goal.
Problems deepened for Rosenior as each week passed. He had to deal with a squad that still tried to adapt to his methods as well as coping with most of his attacking outlets being injured or badly out of form.
It had appeared that he was not ready to take up the mantle so early in his managerial career, and matters did not help his case as his side lost their two-legged tie to PSG 8-2 on aggregate in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
His tenure abruptly ended after lasting only 106 days in charge, in what was a shambolic campaign for Chelsea.
Despite BlueCo viewing the young English coach as the right man to take on the Chelsea role as part of their original plans, a chaotic fallout with the previous coach saw Rosenior walk into an incredibly chaotic environment which arguably contributed to his rapid failure at the club.
Why Did BlueCo Keep Repeating These Mistakes?
Mostly, the ownership could not get out of their own way. Yes, control is key to a club’s future, but absolute power can destroy a club from within.
Their inability to be flexible in recruitment strategy cost them elite coaches in Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino. Their input based on recruitment were not taken under consideration at all and blamed them for failing to win with squads that were not ready to compete for trophies when in reality were average at best.
Internal disagreements about the level of support given to Maresca, as well as other disputes, forced the end of his tenure.
Questioning his every decision from squad selection and rotation, not to mention the constant interference from the board in signing more young players instead of providing more mature players and their ambiguous expectations with another average squad and the reality of Maresca’s expectations.
Their attempts to bring in younger coaches who could adapt to the highest level also dealt a massive hit to the reputations of both Graham Potter and Liam Rosenior due to the chaotic environment they had to walk into.
Graham Potter being thrusted into the big job with his inexperience of coaching big teams certainly did not help his cause, with Liam Rosenior also trying to build his own reputation before being drafted too early to the spotlight.
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How do we know BlueCo have learnt from tHeir mistakes?
Unlike most appointments the club has made in the past, Xabi Alonso has been given the title ‘Manager’ meaning most of the decisions must go through him for the last say to be carried out. This means the ownership will cede some amount of control to the manager to be able to work effectively.
And this is evident in the restructuring of their recruitment policy, where experienced players from the highest level have joined the club to give a more hierarchical look moving forward to support Xabi Alonso in leadership duties.
They also saw his reputation at Bayer Leverkusen as very good man manager and tactician to which he brought success to the German Club, although his Real Madrid stint was marred by player egos rather than results, so they will give him the benefit of the doubt on his experience.
Finally, internal news surrounding their ownership structure has caused them to adapt very quickly as reports suggest both minority owners, Mark Walters and Todd Boehly, are looking to sell their shares to Clearlake Capital due to a financial scandal rocking the former in terms of Insurance funding.
The club will have to leave the focus to footballing matters to the manager as a way of addressing these issues separately.
But in all, this appointment has to work for BlueCo’s reputation. The allure of Chelsea will never go away and the reputation as a big club will always be attractive to all managers.
But with more dismissals than successes, it’s one to assume that the problems facing the team will be down to the turbulent ownership due to their erratic behavior for hiring and firing managers who do not seem to fit their model whilst the coaches want to win.
This Xabi Alonso hire will determine whether they can adapt by being cooperative with their new manager, or keep falling to their tendencies of destroying things before they fully manifest.