Calum McFarlane is back within the Chelsea hotseat once more following the sacking of Liam Rosenior earlier this week.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
And moving into Rosenior\u2019s shoes can be McFarlane, who has been appointed because the club\u2019s interim head coach until the tip of the season.<\/p>\n
McFarlane isn’t any stranger to the position, in fact, having undertaken the role earlier within the season.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The sport away to City finished as a particularly respectable 1-1 draw courtesy of an injury time equaliser from Enzo Fernandez.<\/p>\n
The second game wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
McFarlane, who was a part of Rosenior\u2019s backroom staff during his three months in charge, can be tasked with lifting the mood after a miserable few months on the club.<\/p>\n
His first project is today\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Playing and managerial profession<\/h2>\n
McFarlane\u2019s playing profession was \u2013 to place it bluntly \u2013 non-existent and at a comparatively young age he opted to maneuver into coaching.<\/p>\n He joined Man City in 2020 and worked primarily as assistant manager for the Residents\u2019 Under-18 side during his three years on the club.<\/p>\n He would have known Maresca well because the Italian was also working in City\u2019s academy at the identical time before becoming Pep Guardiola\u2019s second in command.<\/p>\n In Manchester he also crossed paths with Joe Shields, Chelsea\u2019s current Co-Director of Recruitment and Talent, and Academy technical director Glenn van de Kraan.<\/p>\n In 2023, McFarlane moved to Southampton, serving as U18 and U21 manager before the Blues hired him last summer because the U21 coach.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n That 4-2-3-1 shape is familiar to Chelsea\u2019s players, who’ve arrange in that system for the overwhelming majority of their games this campaign.<\/p>\n Former Chelsea left back Filipe Luis is amongst the frontrunners to change into the following everlasting manager.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Oliver Glasner and Andoni Iraola have also been linked with the job.<\/p>\n For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Follow Metro Sport for the newest news on ![\"Leicester](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2187359952.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646\")
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\t<\/div>Tactics and preferred formation<\/h2>\n
Who could possibly be Chelsea\u2019s next manager?<\/h2>\n
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