Calum McFarlane is back in the Chelsea hotseat once again following the sacking of Liam Rosenior last month.
Rosenior was relieved of his duties after the disastrous 3-0 defeat to Brighton on April 21, which saw the Blues lose five matches in a row, without scoring, for the first time since 1912.
McFarlane, who has been appointed as the club’s interim head coach until the end of the season, will lead the team against Manchester City in this afternoon’s FA Cup final.
McFarlane is no stranger to the position, of course, having undertaken the role earlier in the season.
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After Enzo Maresca left Chelsea at the start of this year, the 40-year-old was tasked with leading the first team for the games against Manchester City and Fulham, before Rosenior himself was appointed.
The game away to City finished as an extremely respectable 1-1 draw courtesy of an injury time equaliser from Enzo Fernandez.
The second game wasn’t quite as successful, with the Blues slipping to a 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage, but McFarlane still walked away from the temporary spell with a huge amount of credit in the bank.
In the first game of his second spell, McFarlane helped guide Chelsea into the FA Cup final with a 1-0 win over Leeds, followed by a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League and then a 1-1 draw away to Liverpool last weekend.
Playing and managerial career
McFarlane’s playing career was – to put it bluntly – non-existent and at a relatively young age he opted to move into coaching.
He joined Man City in 2020 and worked primarily as assistant manager for the Citizens’ Under-18 side during his three years at the club.
He would have known Maresca well as the Italian was also working in City’s academy at the same time before becoming Pep Guardiola’s second in command.
In Manchester he also crossed paths with Joe Shields, Chelsea’s current Co-Director of Recruitment and Talent, and Academy technical director Glenn van de Kraan.
In 2023, McFarlane moved to Southampton, serving as U18 and U21 manager before the Blues hired him last summer as the U21 coach.
Tactics and preferred formation
McFarlane has set Chelsea up in a 4-2-3-1 formation for all of his games in charge this season.
That 4-2-3-1 shape is familiar to Chelsea’s players, who have set up in that system for the overwhelming majority of their games this campaign.
Who could be Chelsea’s next manager?
Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is the current favourite to become the next Chelsea manager.
Alonso won the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen in the 2023/24 season, before moving to Real Madrid last summer.
The 44 -year-old left the Spanish giants earlier this year following the 3-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup.
The likes of Andoni Iraola, Filipe Luis and Cesc Fabregas have also been linked with the job.
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