Maurizio Sarri | July 2018 – June 2019
A strange choice by anyone’s standards. Maurizio Sarri had won plaudits in Italy for his style of play at Napoli, known as “Sarriball” , a system about possession for possession sake, which was always going to be a risk in the Premier League. The guy was also a former banker who had never won a trophy in his many years as manager.
Despite all of that, Sarri started very well, implementing his style expertly with the help of
Jorginho at the heart of the team, and remaining unbeaten for several games, but once that first loss came, and coaches realized that if you stop Jorginho you stop Chelsea, it became an uphill struggle for Sarri, who went on a bad dip of form, leaving the club’s Champions League qualification hanging by a thread.
Sarri managed to turn things around and finish third, along with capturing his first trophy, the Europa League, by battering Arsenal in the final thanks to a sublime performance from Eden Hazard in his last game in a Chelsea shirt.
Contrary to popular belief, Sarri was never sacked by Abramovich. He quit to return to Italy and manage Juventus, which only lasted several months. However, if he had decided to stay, I reckon he would’ve been fired. The fans never got on board with him or his mundane style of play, and his scruffy image on the sideline didn’t help matters either. The dismal handling of the entire Kepa situation in the League Cup final also left his authority in tatters.
Frank Lampard | July 2019 – Jan 2021
With Chelsea banned from signing any players due to a transfer embargo, the choice of manager was thin on the ground, so Abramovich looked to arguably the club’s greatest ever player, Frank Lampard, who had just had a successful first year in management at Derby, but many thought this move was too soon for the former England midfielder and Chelsea’s all-time top goalscorer.
He had to take the job, though. This was his dream job. His club. He knew it inside out. He knew all the risks, but the rewards were also extremely high. He embedded the youth into the side, bringing up Mason Mount, Reece James, Tammy Abraham and Fikayi Tomori. He played a high-pressing, high-energy style of football that won over the naysayers, but many of the results were iffy, especially against the lesser sides in the Premier League.
Lampard achieved top four qualification, and an FA Cup final, which he would’ve arguably won had it not been for an untimely injury to Christian Pulisic, and a shocking referee display, but I digress.
This season, Abramovich showed faith in Lampard by giving him a £200m warchest which he used to bring in Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva and Eduard Mendy. Unfortunately, Lampard struggled to get them all into the same side.
Things looked great however at the start, and a title charge was on the cards following a 17-game unbeaten run, only for things to crumble over a 6 week period that ultimately saw Lampard lose his job.
Why He Deserved The Sack
Don’t get me wrong, I love Frank Lampard. I will always love Frank Lampard. He is Chelsea’s greatest ever player. His legacy will live on forever. However, as a manager this role just came too soon for him. He didn’t look capable of changing matches mid-game. He had no clue who his best eleven were. He lost heavily in too many big games. The team looked lost and no sign of it changing. He sadly had to go.
So, there you have it. And now the mantle falls to Thomas Tuchel, who knows the mantra at the club – win or you go home. Roman gives you exactly what you need to be successful, and if you’re not, he gets rid and brings in someone else to try, and more often than not it’s worked tremendously well.
Now it’s up to Tuchel to integrate the new signings into a winning system that ultimately gets Chelsea into the top four this season, but even if qualification to Europe’s elite competition doesn’t come this year, he will not lose his job. Roman being a ruthless mercenary is a myth. He will give Tuchel all the tools he needs to be successful, and will only step in when there looks as if all hope has been lost. If, and let’s be honest, when Thomas Tuchel gets sacked, then Roman will have good reason to do so, as he always has.