This winter, the breakdown in Enzo Maresca’s relationship with Chelsea’s sporting director and ownership felt eerily similar to the circumstances surrounding Conte’s departure.
In the end, Maresca’s position became untenable and he was unable to play in the final stages of the season, and was replaced by Rosenior.
In his first season, Maresca reduced the gap at the top of the league to 16 points, but Liverpool’s total of 84 points was their lowest since 2016.
However, inconsistency has been a persistent problem for Chelsea when compared to standard-setting clubs such as Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal who have dominated the Premier League in recent years.
All three have been continuously active in the dugout and boardroom, providing the foundation for continued success.
Chelsea had hoped to build a long-term structure around Tuchel, who had a close working relationship with manager Marina Granovskaya and technical advisor Petr Cech, but British government sanctions ended Abramovich’s leadership.
When Todd Boley and Clearlake Capital completed their acquisition of BlueCo in 2022, they emphasized their ambitions to win the Premier League. However, his relationship with manager Tuchel quickly deteriorated and looked increasingly strained under the new owner.
Graham Potter was then appointed with the aim of replicating the team-building models of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, taking inspiration from Brighton’s recruitment strategy.
However, Chelsea brought in too many players in their first season under new ownership, creating a chaotic dressing room environment that Potter was unable to manage. The club then opted for a higher profile manager, appointing Mauricio Pochettino in 2024, but he did not match the club’s vision and was replaced by youngster Maresca.
Despite his acrimonious resignation, citing differences in vision with the owners, Maresca’s work remains widely appreciated.
His successor, Rosenior, worked within an organization built to minimize mid-season interruptions and focus on the development of young players, and was promoted from within Bruco’s organization while he was head coach at partner club Strasbourg, in order to maintain a similar style of play to his predecessor.
Conte is now watching Chelsea from afar and is fascinated by the change in approach.
He said: “Every coach wants to sign young players, but if a young player is worth over £100m, [Moises] with caicedo [Enzo] Fernandes, that’s not the case for all clubs, especially in Italy. They are doing very well and doing things that are important for the future. ”
The club he led to glory nine seasons ago are fifth in the Premier League, 13 points behind leaders Arsenal with 15 games remaining.
Guardiola’s Manchester City are still targeting his signature.
Chelsea have been excluded from this season’s title race since December.