With Liam Rosenior sacked from his role as head coach of Chelsea last week, supporters inside Stamford Bridge were simply having trouble remembering what a goal was.
The English manager was considerably out of his depth at the Blues, so much so that his last four Premier League games ended in a defeat where they didn’t even score a goal.
Yet, with caretaker boss Calum McFarlane at the helm, they are now into an FA Cup final after beating Leeds United 1-0 on Sunday afternoon.
It was not a pretty display but it did not need to be. McFarlane just needs to get Chelsea winning games by any means possible right now.
There is next to no chance of him getting the permanent gig but he does have it until the end of the campaign.
So, what are Clearlake cooking in the background?
The latest on Chelsea’s manager hunt
The two early frontrunners for the job would appear to be Spaniard’s in the shape of Como’s Cesc Fabregas and Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola.
The Cherries manager has already confirmed that he will be leaving the Vitality Stadium in the summer, thus opening the avenue for one of the Premier League’s big boys to swoop in. A similar situation engulfs Marco Silva and Oliver Glasner who are also out contract this summer.
That said, they are not the only options. Talks have reportedly been held with PSG boss Luis Enrique over his availability.
It seems unlikely that he leaves Paris behind anytime soon, meaning someone like Iraola could be in pole position to get the job full-time once he departs the south coast.
Providing the latest on the situation regarding Iraola, reporter Fabrizio Romano took to YouTube on Sunday. He revealed: “Chelsea always wanted to do something at the right time. Chelsea will now meet with the agents of some managers and then decide what to do.
“In terms of managers, Iraola is available and is going to leave Bournemouth at the end of the season. From my understanding he would be more than happy to continue in the Premier League. He would be keen on the possibility of becoming the Chelsea manager. There is still nothing advanced and there is nothing done.”
Why Iraola could be Chelsea’s next Tuchel
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course it is, but how Chelsea must wish they have kept Thomas Tuchel at the Bridge.
|
Tuchel at Chelsea |
|
|---|---|
|
Matches |
100 |
|
Wins |
63 |
|
Draws |
19 |
|
Defeats |
18 |
|
Goals scored |
197 |
|
Goals conceded |
105 |
|
Points per game |
2.08 |
|
Top scorer |
Mount & Havertz (19) |
|
Top assister |
Mount (18) |
|
Top appearance maker |
Mount (87) |
While it may well have been Enzo Maresca who led them to Club World Cup glory, it was the German who steered them home to their last Champions League triumph.
How did he achieve such success? Well, he predominantly used a back three in west London, utilising a three man defensive shape in 55 of his 63 Premier League games at Chelsea.
Control of the ball was absolutely imperative with Chelsea averaging 62.2% of the possession under Tuchel in the Premier League.
They were particularly strong out of possession too with their PPDA (passes per defensive action), a metric that measures the quality and efficiency of a press, sitting at 9.8 when he was at Chelsea. That was the second best total in the English top-flight at the time.
In short, his Chelsea team were defined by hard pressing and high intensity work.
So, how doest that compare to Iraola? He is, of course, managing a team who naturally won’t see as much of the ball as one of the classic big six sides but they still rank tenth in the division for posssession across the season.
Furthermore, his Bournemouth side sit fifth in the Premier League for high turnovers per 90 minutes with 7.59. They also rank seventh in the division in 2025/26 for pressing sequences with 11.50 per 90.
What we’re saying here is that both Tuchel and Iraola are cut from a similar cloth when it comes to high intensity and attacking football.
Arsenal saw firsthand just how effective the Bournemouth press was when they lost 2-1 to the Cherries just over a week ago. It was a brilliant performance and one that showed exactly how to play away against a top side. In that match, they were able to press the Gunners high and complete regular turnovers.
To put some of these numbers into context, Chelsea are currently the seventh-worst side in England’s top-flight for pressing sequences while they are tenth for total turnovers.
In every single match this season they have been outran by their opponents too. That is perhaps the most alarming stat if you are a Chelsea supporter but if Iraola were to arrive, he could finally correct that and get this Chelsea side operating in a similar way to how they did under Tuchel, just in a 4-2-3-1 formation instead, the system he has preferred at Bournemouth.
Fabregas upgrade: Chelsea have held talks to hire the “best manager in Europe”
Chelsea are going to appoint a new manager at the end of the season after sacking Liam Rosenior.
