Chelsea's season descended into familiar chaos. A manager sacked after four months, a squad full of expensive signings that have not delivered, and a fanbase that has run out of goodwill for the ownership that promised so much when they arrived in 2022.
With it becoming hard to back Chelsea as the first goalscorer in the football betting markets over the last few months, the question being asked at Stamford Bridge right now is a simple one: who is actually responsible for this mess? The honest answer is that blame sits at every level, but it does not sit evenly.
This summer, that question takes on new weight. Xabi Alonso is set to take charge as Chelsea manager, a title that sets him apart from every predecessor in the BlueCo era. Where previous appointments carried the head coach designation, Alonso arrives simply as manager, a distinction that may seem subtle but signals a different relationship between the dugout and the boardroom.
Whether it represents genuine change or another rebranding of the same broken model remains to be seen.
The managers
Not every Chelsea manager since BlueCo's arrival has been the wrong appointment. Thomas Tuchel, albeit carried over from the Roman Abramovich era, was a Champions League-winning coach with genuine pedigree, and he left with the backing of a large section of the fanbase.
Mauricio Pochettino had a solid single season, steadied the ship, and was let go in circumstances that surprised much of the football world. Enzo Maresca was the most successful manager of this era at the club by some distance, delivering the Conference League and Club World Cup in his first year before a breakdown in relations with the ownership ended his tenure prematurely.
The weaker appointments are harder to defend. There was a sense from the moment Liam Rosenior was confirmed that the fit was not right: a manager whose career had been built at Championship and French Ligue 1 level walking into one of the most pressurised jobs in the Premier League without the experience to handle the environment.
Five consecutive league defeats without scoring, a 3-0 humiliation at Brighton, and he was gone in four months. Potter's appointment carried more logic given his Brighton work, but the outcome was equally brutal. In both cases, however, the real question is not why those managers struggled. It is why they were appointed in the first place, and who made those decisions.
Alonso's arrival reframes that question. If the manager title signals genuine authority over football decisions rather than a cosmetic change from his predecessors' head coach designation, it could represent the most meaningful shift Chelsea have made since 2022. The early signs suggest the club believes so. The wider football world is more cautious.
The players
BlueCo's transfer strategy has been one of the most scrutinised in modern football, and the scrutiny is warranted. The ownership has spent well over a billion pounds since taking over, signing player after player on long-term contracts, many of whom have underperformed, been loaned out, or departed the club within a single season. The model, which prioritises young players on extended deals to manage financial fair play obligations, has created a bloated squad without a coherent first team.
Alejandro Garnacho looks like the latest example. Signed from Manchester United for around £40 million, he has struggled to establish himself in the starting 11, has been largely ineffective when called upon, and reports have emerged that the hierarchy privately accept the signing is not working out. He arrived with a reputation for attitude problems at Old Trafford, and Chelsea bought him anyway.
The problems within the squad have not been limited to performances. Enzo Fernandez openly discussed his desire to play for Real Madrid and his dream of living in Madrid, comments that led Rosenior to ban him from first-team duties for three games. Marc Cucurella publicly questioned BlueCo's transfer strategy and the club's direction. Both players were among those closest to Maresca during his tenure, and their willingness to speak out says something about the atmosphere inside the club.
One of Alonso's most immediate challenges will be restoring a dressing room that has clearly fractured. Whether he has the authority, and the backing, to do so will tell us a great deal about how much has actually changed.
The owners
This is where the buck stops. BlueCo, led by co-owner Behdad Eghbali, arrived at Stamford Bridge with a vision built around data-driven recruitment, long-term contract structures, and the development of young talent into a trophy-winning squad. Three and a half years on, the results have been poor by any measure, and the human cost in terms of managers hired and fired has been considerable.
The strategy of signing young players on long contracts to satisfy financial regulations has produced a squad that lacks experience, leadership, and identity. The decision-making around managers has been inconsistent at best: sacking coaches who were delivering while retaining a structure that makes success almost impossible. The instability filters down through every layer of the club, from the dugout to the dressing room, and it flows from the top.
Chelsea's problems are not exclusively the fault of their owners. Some of the managers have not been good enough, and some of the players have not helped themselves. But the common thread running through every failure since 2022 is the ownership model, and until that changes, the merry-go-round is unlikely to stop turning.
Alonso represents the best chance yet of breaking the cycle. He is not, on his own, a guarantee of it.
Published by Patrick Jane
23.06.2026