09/05/2026

SPORTS SATURDAY | MAY 9, 2026

29 Who wants to be Chelsea manager? Incoherent buying and clueless ownership make it the impossible job L IVERPOOL have faced Bruno Saltor. Now for Calum McFarlane. There will be an interim manager in the Chelsea dug out today (7.30pm Malaysian time); not Manchester United now, they benefit from a European exile. The counter-argument is that, under BlueCo, they will always be less than the sum of their costly parts. winless runs. None of it makes Chelsea a natu ral destination. Another to overachieve with a smaller club, Oliver Glasner, had a fractious relationship with the Crystal Palace powerbrokers at times. That scarcely fits the BlueCo mould of people who would toe the line. Ű BY RICHARD JOLLY

in effect talked himself out of a job. Which, in turn, may not help Chelsea’s search for a successor. Word about the prospec tive employers can get around the managerial grapevine and the chances are that few of the managers to encounter BlueCo will speak well of them. They have tried to downgrade the job, assuming they knew best, despite the con trary evidence their often ridiculous recruitment offers. They have promoted

Supposed shortlists of managers can involve an element of fantasy. Of course Cesc Fabregas would be a popular appointment. He can also take Como into Europe and wait, in the knowledge he would be the obvi ous choice if a vacancy came along at Arsenal and Barcelona, two of his other former clubs, or at many a Serie A giant. He surely does not need to go to Chelsea. Nor, logically, does Xabi Alonso, whose movements are of par ticular interest to those in the Liverpool fanbase who want Arne Slot gone. The Basque’s brief, bruising time at Real Madrid has interrupted the upward trajectory of his career; yet his reputation should remain sufficiently high to mean he can do bet ter. His feats at Bayer Leverkusen could mean that, whenever Vincent Kompany leaves Bayern Munich, he tops the Bavarians’ wishlist. Andoni Iraola can top the betting, is leaving Bournemouth and will not be returning to the club he represented more than 500 times, with Athletic Bilbao instead appointing Edin Terzic. But Iraola seems to like life out of the lime light. He has achieved great feats at Bournemouth while under little pressure on

for the first time in this fixture, given that Saltor’s only game in charge, following Graham Potter’s sacking and before Frank Lampard became a slightly more permanent caretaker, was a 0-0 draw against Liverpool in 2023. If their owners are engaging in the “self reflection” they promised after Liam Rosenior’s sacking, they may care to note that as many people have taken charge of Chelsea in their four-year ownership – eight – as have led Liverpool this millennium; and that is including Phil Thompson, who only assumed the reins because Gerard Houllier was ill. Or perhaps, still convinced of their genius, they are simultaneously preparing their next managerial appointment while finding more loopholes to avoid breaching financial regula tions now it is apparent they won’t have Champions League football next season; some thing for which Liverpool, whose passage back into Europe has been eased by Chelsea’s run of six straight defeats, can be very grateful. But Chelsea’s meltdown ought to illustrate that hints of a change of direction ought to be more than that. Since Clearlake Capital and BlueCo took over in 2022, they have sacked a Champions League-winning manager, in Thomas Tuchel, and made four hires. Potter and Rosenior were horribly out of their depth. Mauricio Pochettino was the most qualified but happy to leave after a year. Enzo Maresca could be called a qualified success but

Marco Silva could be a third manager who is available without compensation after excelling elsewhere in the Premier League. He may be likelier to take Chelsea than any of the others, too. He might, realistically, be the best they can get. But BlueCo may have already cost the for mer Chelsea leftback Filipe Luis a job, with sug gestions Flamengo sacked their Copa Libertadores-winning manager for talking to them; about replacing Rosenior at Strasbourg, apparently. The Brazilian may be scarred but is still out of work. So is Xavi Hernandez, who The Independent understands is a target, though whether a La Liga winner needs this Chelsea is a moot point. But who does? One of the early sceptics about BlueCo, a man who mocked Boehly’s idea of importing an All-Star game from the United States, was a Premier and Champions League-winning manager: Jurgen Klopp. In 2024, he said he would not have lasted a year at Liverpool had they been in charge. Managers are hired to make decisions, but sometimes their finest choices are which jobs not to take. The danger for Chelsea is that their reputa tion deters high-class coaches after four years of incoherent buying and clueless ownership. – The Independent

coaches who lacked the track record to manage elite clubs, with the result they were seen as yes-men; until Maresca, with some out spoken interventions, showed himself capable of independent thought. None of which renders it

easy to recruit candidates with more credibility or expe rience. Especially given the con text. Chelsea should have a dimin ishing appeal. For the third time in four years, they will have no Champions League football. They have an unhappy fanbase, a feckless squad, vast numbers of players. There are problems with the culture and the team. BlueCo can talk of learning their lessons, looking to bring in more senior players; some would want to see the proof before believing them. While there is easy scope to improve upon a meagre total of 48 points, the best case for argu ing Chelsea do well next year is that, like

Klopp blueprint Slot must follow to rescue Reds

Ű BY RICHARD JOLLY

But if Liverpool require more robust ness, that is both physical and mental. “It’s unacceptable that we have lost too many times as defending champi ons of the Premier League,” said cap tain Virgil van Dijk. Last Sunday was the 10th loss in which they have conceded in the first 16 minutes: there have been too many slow starts. Liverpool need to rebalance the squad. They desperately need Dominik Szoboszlai to sign a new deal. Ryan Gravenberch has, though his season has been decidedly mixed. But Alexis Mac Allister’s has been poor, a few fine displays apart, and only partly mitigated by the fact he was not fully fit at the start. Perhaps Slot should prioritise Curtis Jones more. The Merseysider has made 46 appearances this season, but has too few starts in midfield. He is currently installed in defence because Slot does not trust the right-back Jeremie Frimpong to play right-back. So Liverpool probably need to add a right-back to the shopping list headed by the quest for Salah’s replacement. If the arrival of Jeremy Jacquet and the return to fitness of Giovanni Leoni would at least add physicality in defence, there is a ques tion of how much character they lose when Andy Robertson and Salah leave; potentially Alisson, too. “There will be a lot of work that has to be done going into next season,” said Van Dijk. Some of it has to be conducted in private. But so far, there are too few reasons to see this Liverpool emulat ing Klopp’s teams and bouncing back into excellent years. – The Independent

JU R GE N KLOPP had a capacity to make people feel good about them selves. One of the more unheralded ways came in difficult seasons. Klopp finished them well. In 2020/21, Liverpool won their final five league matches, and eight of the last 10, to secure qualification for the Champions League. In 2022/23, Liverpool won seven of their last nine League games. They nevertheless ended up in the Europa League. In each case, however, Liverpool’s surge offered optimism the following campaign would be better. In each case, it was. Now Arne Slot has a habit of saying next year will be superior to this. Perhaps he lacks Klopp’s powers of persuasion or maybe the evidence is less compelling but many are not con vinced. Some of that can stem from feel. Liverpool had won three consecutive Premier League matches before Sunday’s defeat to Manchester United. And whereas Klopp got a hearten ing win at Old Trafford in the run-in in 2021, there was no repeat last week end. Rather, Liverpool replayed some of the errors that have pockmarked their campaign. Matheus Cunha’s opener was the 17th League goal they have conceded from a set-piece, a club record in the Premier League era. Kobbie Mainoo’s winner was the 16th they have let in during the final 15 minutes; only Burnley and Newcastle have been more porous at the end of games. That can reflect the way Liverpool

that Liverpool’s new signings will improve after more time together and that they will have fewer injuries. There are days when Alexander Isak appears a one-man rebuttal to that.

have often felt stretched, their starters exhausted because injuries have removed others from contention. Two of the reasons why Slot argues next year will be preferable to this is

He was absent on Sunday, due to a minor groin problem which further calls into question Liverpool’s decision to spend £125 million (RM650m) on a player with a dubious fitness record.