According to the Guardian, Roman Abramovich wants to replace Jose Mourinho with Pep Guardiola. I would assume this totally unrealistic rumor would take place at the end of the campaign, as Pep Guardiola has failed to sign a new deal with Bayern Munich.
Apparently, despite giving Jose Mourinho a new deal this summer, and then publicly backing him (the first time Abramovich has ever done this for a manager in his tenure at Chelsea), the Russian owner is prepared to let the Portuguese manager go after this season.
Personally, I think this rumor has absolutely no teeth to it. Firstly, Guardiola will likely sign a new deal with Bayern Munich, simply because there are not many good managers available on the market. Furthermore, despite not winning the treble, he has improved Bayern and has been successful in winning several trophies. Barring a slip up here and there, the Germans could easily win the treble this season.
Chelsea will also not part company with Mourinho yet, it just doesn’t make sense. First off, there aren’t many options on the market available to risk firing such a strong manager. Also, Jose Mourinho has spent the last three seasons assembling this current team. Allowing another manager to come in would mean more signings, more exits and more instability. The best solution is to add a few more players in January and give Mourinho time to get his squad on track. Mourinho has earned this time to do so.
Finally, Chelsea would not do well with Guardiola as a manager. He is known for clashing with certain players and would absolutely do so at Chelsea. They have several big name stars, and there is no way that he wouldn’t alienate some of them. Furthermore, Guardiola is based around possession and creative players, a style of play that this Chelsea squad has not been established around. This means that he would have to sign several players, costing Abramovich a lot more money, and this would basically be the Blues starting over.
Overall, Chelsea have chosen Mourinho for better or worse. And given Mourinho’s history, it’s absolutely for better, but a dynasty takes time, and Chelsea fans need patience, not a new coach. The rest will come in time.
