15 Chelsea Managers from the Abramovich Era to Present Day

Chelsea FC is one of the most successful clubs in the history of football, based in London, Chelsea shares the same city as some of the elites in the English Premier League like Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur. The Blues transformed and became competitive and famous after Russian businessman Roman Abramovich acquired the club in 2003. The Russian businessman came with a constant supply of investment for the players, developments, and staff which changed the whole environment inside the club. Abramovich came with an ambition to turn Chelsea into one of the powerhouses in the English circuit and European football as well. Managers were expected to win trophies for the Blues in quick succession otherwise, they face the risk of being replaced immediately. The Blues then entered an era where they saw dominance in the English Premier League as well as European football thanks to all the managers who came up with a unique style of plays and strategies that revolutionized the club.

In this article, we’ll be looking at how each manager influenced the club under his leadership and what they achieved since the acquisition by the Russian businessman Roman Abramovich in 2003. We’ll be exploring their styles of play, formations, qualities, and success at Chelsea as well as the potential reasons for their departure from the club. Under the helm of new ownership of the club, the Blues went on to conquer the European football where they won several English Premier League trophies and UEFA Champions League titles as well. Although frequent managerial changes put pressure on the players to adapt to new styles and formations they also created stories filled with triumphs and challenges. Now, let’s take a look at Chelsea managers over the years under Roman Abramovich.

List of Chelsea managers under Roman Abramovich

Jose Mourinho (2004 – 2007)

The Portuguese manager, who just won the UEFA Champions League with the Portuguese club, Porto in 2004 was appointed as Chelsea’s manager after Claudio Ranieri left. He immediately impressed the fans and was nicknamed “The Special One” which reflected his confidence and bold personality perfectly by the club’s fans. Mourinho’s tactics, formation, and charisma quickly won over the Blues fans and the players.

Jose Mourinho is known for his strong relationships with his team players and was often described as a father figure to some of the players. Inspired and respected for his loyalty, commitment, and confidence in the team. His playing style was different from the previous manager’s as he focused heavily on defense and counter-attacks. Mourinho’s go-to formation which worked well for him was 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 with a complete defense and fast quick counter-attacks, after winning the ball back from the opponents. The Portuguese manager made Chelsea one of the toughest teams in Europe and led them to success in his first two seasons. Under Mourinho, the Blues won back-to-back English Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006 and also set a record for most points.

He also helped the club in winning the FA Cup and two League Cups which made him a legend at the club in his first tenure. Despite all the success and achievements of the Blues, Mourinho parted ways with Chelsea in 2007. The initial reports suggested that he and Abramovich disagreed on several issues regarding team management, staff, and transfers. However, the poor results in domestic league and European tournaments led to Mourinho’s departure from the club. For fans, he came and conquered and left as one of the most successful managers in Chelsea history.

Avram Grant (2007 – 2008)

Chelsea appointed Avram Grant as the manager of the club after the departure of Jose Mourinho in 2007. The Blues and fans had high hopes for him after what the previous manager achieved at the club. The Israeli manager was known for his calm demeanor and steady personality, he managed to stabilize the club after the initial challenging period under Jose Mourinho. Although, he had the total opposite personality as Mourinho, his approach and tactical supremacy provided a sense of calm and order to the Blues team.

His style of play was more pragmatic, focusing on being practical, and adapting to situations rather than having a fixed style. Under his helm, Chelsea reached the Champions League final in 2008, where they faced their rivals Manchester United. The thrilling match went to penalties after Man United star, Cristiano Ronaldo equalized after missing a penalty. Unfortunately, Chelsea lost 6-5 in penalty shoot-out. Though the Israeli manager didn’t manage to bring any trophies during his time as manager, he was respected for his efforts in bringing Chelsea close to their first Champions League title.

He was let go at the end of the season despite showing good results and performances. The Blues started looking for a manager with more experience in winning trophies. He managed the Blues for 247 days as a manager with a win percentage of 66.67% and earned the respect and admiration of fans and players for his contribution during a challenging season.

Luiz Felipe Scolari (2008 – 2009)

After the departure of Avram Grant, the Chelsea management decided to hire Luiz Felipe Scolari. The Brazilian came with the tag of World Cup-winning manager and made his appointment at Chelsea, very exciting for the club management and fans alike. He was known for his experience in international football and his expertise in attacking plays where his team would go on the attack as soon as they won the ball back from the opposition team.

The Brazilian manager tried to implement a new style of play in the team, where he tried possession focusing on keeping the ball and patiently building up the place which proved to be a little difficult in the fast-paced English Premier League.

Under his management, the Blues finished third in the English Premier League, reached the semifinals in the UEFA Champions League, and got eliminated in the fourth round of the Football League Cup. The overall spending of the club during his tenure in the transfer windows in summer and winter collectively was around €24.6 million where he signed Josh Bosingwa of Porto, Deco from Barcelona, and Fabio Paim from sporting CP on a loan.

The Blues started the new season under him emphatically winning the initial games comfortably but later on struggled to win and inconsistency became an issue for the team with his tactics. According to the reports, some of the senior players even reported feeling uncomfortable with his tactics and formation, which eventually made it even more challenging to maintain team harmony.

After a series of disappointing results in Europe tournaments and the domestic league, Chelsea parted ways with Scolari midway through the season. His approach, tactics, and formation did not work well in the English Premier League, and he failed to match the expectations of the fans and Abramovich, despite his potential and achievement his time at Chelsea was brief and short-lived.

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Guus Hiddink – First Term (Interim, 2009)

Guus Hiddink took over as an interim manager in early 2009 after the club sacked Luiz Felipe Scolari. He had a reputation for turning games with struggling teams and also had experience as a manager, his wisdom, patience, and calm approach brought stability to the team. His tactical approach formation created a solid and disciplined structure that allowed players Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba to play with more freedom which ensured positive results for the team.

His first game in charge for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with a victory over Juventus in the UEFA Champions League. Later, his team knocked their rival Liverpool out of the competition making fans delighted. Fans and players commanded his tactics and strategies for turning things around during this difficult period.

In his entire tenure at Chelsea, he only lost one game that too against Tottenham Hotspur, where Luka Modric scored the only goal of the game. After his last game in charge many players, including the captain, John Terry, Michael Ballack, and Petr Cech came to him and asked him to stay as things were looking promising and everything was going so well for them, but Hiddink turned the offer down as he intended to return to his post with the Russian football team and didn’t receive any offer from Abramovich. He got a parting gift from Chelsea players for all the memories. They gifted him an engraved watch and a shirt signed by all the team players.

Carlo Ancelotti (2009 – 2011)

After parting ways with Guus Hiddink, who served as an interim manager at Chelsea in 2009. The Russian businessmen Roman Abramovich, and Carlo Ancelotti had a reputation for being composed flexible, and experienced in managing top-tier footballers and grooming upcoming young talents. The Russian boss hired him and had high hopes & expectations from him, and the Italian manager managed to match the expectations by winning the English Premier League and FA Cup double in his first season as a Chelsea manager. After his double in his first season, he became an instant favorite for club players and fans alike. His win percentage was around 61%, which reflected his success.

Despite all his success and achievement, the Italian manager was dismissed after a tropics, second season as Chelsea‘s expectations remained extremely high for him, and they couldn’t wait to await another season with him. Although his departure was surprising to many fans and players, his achievement speaks volumes for the attacking style that he introduced to the team and left an everlasting impact on Chelsea‘s history.

Andre Villas-Boas (2011 – 2012)

After letting go of Carlo Ancelotti, the Chelsea top had decided to sign Andre Villas-Boas on a three-year contract indirectly, paying Porto a world record €15 million in compensation to activate his release clause. Considered Jose Mourinho’s regen but failed to deliver at Chelsea after a successful tenure at Porto. The Portuguese Manager’s first defeat came when Chelsea lost to Manchester United 3-1 at Old Trafford, which marked his first defeat in 39 league matches. After a series of defeats against Arsenal, Queen Park Rangers, and Liverpool in the Premier League and getting knocked out from Liverpool in the quarter-finals by Liverpool losing 2-0, pressure began to fill up on him as Chelsea dropped out of the top four positions in the Premier League table after a defeat against Everton.

The poor run of form continues in the Premier League as well as in the UEFA Champions League, where Chelsea lost to Napoli when the Portuguese manager decided to leave Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, and Ashley Cole on the bench which the club’s technical director asked for an explanation on behalf of Roman Abramovich. After losing the battle for fourth place in the Premier League, he was relieved of his Manager duties by Chelsea in the middle of the season, which marked and disappointing season, not just for the players, but for the club as well.

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Roberto Di Matteo (2012)

The Italian Manager served as as an interim Manager of Chelsea, until the end of the season, after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked by the club. He managed to turn things around with several victories, which helped the team gain stability, form, and confidence. Under his leadership, Chelsea managed to overcome last season’s winner Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League with a 3-2 aggregate in the tournament semi-final. In 2012, Di Matteo guided Chelsea to the 2012 UEFA Champions League title defeating Bayern Munich where Chelsea came out victorious in the penalty shootout.

This was Chelsea‘s first Champions League title and also became the first London club to win the UEFA Champions League. Later on, Chelsea announced that they had appointed him as a permanent manager with a two-year contract with the club, but things weren’t going the way the club and fans thought they lost to Manchester City in the 2012 FA Community Shield as well as in 2012 UEFA Super Cup to Atletico Madrid. The team was doing good in the early half of the season as they continued to win successive league games against Stoke City, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur. Unfortunately, he was let go by the club after the 3-0 away defeat to Juventus in the UEFA Champions League, which raised questions by Pundits and club fans about this controversial decision made by the club management.

Rafael Benitez ( 2012 – 2013)

After the sudden dismissal of Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea appointed the Spanish manager Rafael Benitez as the interim first-team manager until the end of the season. At first, fans were unhappy with with his appointment at the club because of his association with Liverpool where he commented about Chelsea and received a fiercely hostile reception. His first three games as an interim manager were two draws and one defeat, which raised questions about his tactics and team formation.

Under his command, Chelsea managed to reach the FIFA Club World Cup final, where they were beaten 1-0 by the Brazilian club Corinthians. However, he later on managed to stabilize the team and secured a top Premier League finish with a place in the next season of the UEFA Champions League. Benitez managed to bring silverware after defeating Benfica in the UEFA Europe League final, where they won 2-1. Chelsea became the first club in Britain to have won all three major European trophies.

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José Mourinho – Second Term (2013 – 2015)

Fans were delighted when Chelsea announced that “The Special One” was back at the club in 2013. he brought a mix of his previous tactics! With a bit more attacking flair in his style of play, which worked really well in European circuit as well as domestic leagues. During his second stint, he was more focused on building a balanced team by having more experienced and seasoned veterans like John Terry and the skills and abilities of upcoming stars like Eden Hazard. Although his first season ended with trophies, he still managed to reach the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League and finished third in the English Premier League,

The Portuguese Manager managed to bring back another English Premier League title and the League Cup double in his second season as Chelsea Manager in 2014-15. fans were extremely thrilled after seeing his ability to organize a team that looked so defensively stable, combined with fast counter-attacking strategies which proved successful once again. In the 2015-16 season, his second term ended on a bad note as Chelsea struggled to maintain their status in the Premier League while hovering near the relegation zone, which was quite bad to see a team that won the Premier League last season performing so badly in the next season, which led to his departure in December 2015.

Guus Hiddink – Second Term (Interim, 2015–2016)

Guus Hiddink was again recalled as an interim caretaker or manager after the sacking of Jose Mourinho in his second spell at the club. Fans and players had high hopes for him after what he achieved as interim manager in the past at the club. But this time club’s situation was dire and players were struggling to win games. Although Chelsea was nowhere near to challenge the top teams for the title, he managed to bring stability and discipline which made them climb to finish in the upper half of the table.

In his second term as an interim manager, he didn’t bring any silverware for the clubs but managed to stabilize things which restored order in the team during that turbulent time which fans appreciated. The Dutch manager remains one of the most respected figures in Chelsea’s managerial history.

Antonio Conte (2016 – 2018)

In April 2016, the Blues officially announced that Call Conte would be joining the English side as the first team coach for the 2016-17 season on a three-year contract that would keep him until 2019. He had a terrific start at Chelsea as he broke the previous record and set a new club record with 11 successive lead victories in a single season. The Italian man also became the first manager in the history of the Premier League to win three consecutive Premier League Manager of the Month awards.

Under his guidance, Chelsea also managed to set a new record for more wins in a single season with 30 victories out of 38 league matches, they played. Antonio Conte won the Premier League title in his first season and the FA Cup the next year in 2017-18. But unfortunately, he was sacked after failing to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, as Chelsea finished in the 5th position in the Premier League.

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Maurizio Sarri (2018 – 2019)

After Chelsea sacked Antonio Conte, they decided to go with Maurizio Sarri who had previously managed Italian club Napoli and had a great season with them as a manager, hit this pretty well and managed to win the UEFA Europa League campaign where they were digit throughout the entire tournament. It was also his first major trophy as a Manager. Chelsea announced that the Italian professional football, Manager would be returning to Italy to serve Juventus as he wanted to stay close to his grandparents were sick.

Frank Lampard – First Term (2019–2021)

Frank Lampard was appointed as the new first-team head coach at the club where he almost spent his entire professional club courier on a three-year deal, making him the first English Manager to manage the club in over two decades. Under his managerial term, Chelsea made five big player acquisitions where the club signed Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz, and Edouard Mendy.

The English man did pretty well as a manager for such a big club, he managed to have a win percentage of 52.38% in his two-year contract with the club. But Blue’s performance continued to drop and were in ninth place which ultimately led to his dismissal.

Thomas Tuchel (2021 – 2022)

Thomas Tuchel was appointed as the new manager for the Blues after the dismissal of Frank Lampard. The German manager came with an impressive managerial portfolio where he won several trophies with Ligue 1, PSG, and in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund. Under his leadership, Chelsea saw fewer chances created 1.1 compared to Lampard’s team per game 2.1.

Nobody bothered to talk about the scoring issue as he was managing the team and was winning games at home and away. Although Tuchel wasn’t able to win the Premier League title, he managed to win the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup during his spell.

After the club was acquired by the American consortium Blueco, Tuchel and the new leadership started having a fallout. Tuchel expressed his desire to sign Matthijs de Ligt, Raphinha, Frenkie de Jong, Kimpembe, Gabriel Jesus, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Thomas Tuchel had the fourth-highest win rate of the Blues manager, with a 60% win percentage. He left the club after a fallout with first-team players like Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Pulisic, Lukaku, and Hudson-Odoi.

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