Calum McFarlane is back within the Chelsea hotseat once more following the sacking of Liam Rosenior earlier this week.
Rosenior was relieved of his duties on Wednesday after the disastrous 3-0 defeat to Brighton, which saw the Blues lose five matches in a row, without scoring, for the primary time since 1912.
And moving into Rosenior’s shoes can be McFarlane, who has been appointed because the club’s interim head coach until the tip of the season.
McFarlane isn’t any stranger to the position, in fact, having undertaken the role earlier within the season.
After Enzo Maresca left Chelsea in the beginning of this 12 months, the 40-year-old was tasked with leading the primary team for the games against Manchester City and Fulham, before Rosenior himself was appointed.
The sport away to City finished as a particularly 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 an enormous amount of credit within the bank.
McFarlane, who was a part of Rosenior’s backroom staff during his three months in charge, can be tasked with lifting the mood after a miserable few months on the club.
His first project is today’s FA Cup semi-final against arch rivals Leeds United, before attention will turn to securing some type of European football for next season with Champions League qualification now surely beyond reach.
Playing and managerial profession
McFarlane’s playing profession was – to place it bluntly – non-existent and at a comparatively young age he opted to maneuver into coaching.
He joined Man City in 2020 and worked primarily as assistant manager for the Residents’ Under-18 side during his three years on the club.
He would have known Maresca well because the Italian was also working in City’s academy at the identical 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 because the U21 coach.
Tactics and preferred formation
McFarlane set Chelsea up in a 4-2-3-1 formation for the games against Manchester City and Fulham, and that system is prone to be deployed again for the rest of the season.
That 4-2-3-1 shape is familiar to Chelsea’s players, who’ve arrange in that system for the overwhelming majority of their games this campaign.
Who could possibly be Chelsea’s next manager?
Former Chelsea left back Filipe Luis is amongst the frontrunners to change into the following everlasting manager.
The 40 year-old impressed in his first role in management at Flamengo, winning a bunch of trophies including the Brazilian league title and the Copa Libertadores, before leaving the club back in March.
The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Oliver Glasner and Andoni Iraola have also been linked with the job.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the newest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: Chelsea make transfer decision as Premier League club goal Nicolas Jackson
MORE: Gary Neville names Arsenal star who has ‘struggled for weeks’ after Newcastle win
MORE: Steven Gerrard urges Liverpool to re-sign £65.5m player: ‘I’m missing him’