Mauricio Pochettino revealed in a recent interview that he had only had a say in two signings Chelsea had made in the summer he arrived. Axel Disasi, because Wesley Fofana was injured in pre-season, and Cole Palmer. That goes to show one of the central problems with the club right now.
BlueCo appear to have built a model where the managers are only there to coach the team. They have sporting directors in place to take care of how the squad is built and which players to sign.
That has not produced much success over the past four seasons though. Chelsea have not even come close to competing with the best in England or in Europe. And while the Club World Cup win was impressive, it was a short tournament at the end of a long season.
Whoever Chelsea’s next manager is might want more say on matters before taking the job. Of course, that is if they go for a top one. Otherwise, we might be caught up in this cycle of hiring managers, struggling for results, sacking them, talking about self-reflection and then repeating that process.
Why BlueCo might be reluctant to hire Cesc Fabregas
Names like Xabi Alonso, Andoni Iraola and Marco Silva are the three frontrunners for the Chelsea job if reports are accurate. But another name that has been brought up is that of Cesc Fabregas.
The two-time Premier League winner with Chelsea currently finds himself in charge of Como FC in Italy. And he has done a fantastic job there, and has them in contention for the Champions League. That is quite the achievement, considering a few years back, they were in the second division of Italian football.
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Fabregas revealed how he has full say when it comes to football decisions at Como FC:
“I take all the football decisions. The sporting director, he’s day-to-day with me and we see football the same way. The signings, we work with data, we have our scouting and stuff, but it needs to be something that I believe in. It needs to be a player that I’m convinced about.
“I’m so happy and lucky that we have a president that trusts me a lot and has given me the confidence to go and take all the football decisions. That, for me, is really important.”
Fabregas might not even be considered for Chelsea job
That does not feel like the right fit when it comes to the Chelsea model under BlueCo, whether right or wrong. So, it is hard to imagine that the club would hire someone like Fabregas, or that he would even be interested in the job.
There have been some suggestions that BlueCo might be willing to tweak things this summer. But do not expect them to completely change the structure of the club, even though some feel that they need to do so.
Anyways, it has also been suggested that the likes of Alonso and Iraola would need to be convinced that this is the right job for them. So, BlueCo do have some work to do this summer when it comes to the managerial search.
