The London club’s season has been rocky, with four different managers steering the ship: Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor, and Frank Lampard.
Even though Chelsea FC did reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League, the overall campaign has been far from encouraging. In domestic competition, the team sits in eleventh place in the Premier League, a hefty 17 points adrift of the top four, and exits have come early in both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup. The consequence is clear: persistent instability on the bench has become a defining feature of Chelsea’s year.
During the 2022-23 campaign, four different coaches have taken the helm at the London club. Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor, and Frank Lampard have all attempted to steer the club away from difficult spell. Todd Boehly, the current owner, arrived with high expectations but patience wore thin quickly after a summer of heavy spending, culminating in a January window that saw Chelsea invest 329.5 million euros in new players.
Tuchel, who had previously led Chelsea to glory, faced a chastening season and was in charge for just seven games before his departure on September 7, 2022. The German tactician could not recover the form that had once brought European success. Graham Potter, who had earned praise for his work at Brighton, became the club’s most visible face in the campaign. He oversaw 32 matches, but the results were inconsistent: 12 wins, eight draws, and 12 losses. In cup competitions, the club was eliminated twice by Manchester City, underscoring a broader struggle in knockout formats as well.
Following Potter’s spell, Bruno Saltor took charge on an interim basis, but his tenure consisted of a single match, a 0-0 draw with Liverpool, before Lampard stepped back into the fold. Lampard returned as a club legend to manage the precarious situation through the remainder of the season. Yet the results did not swing in the new direction hoped for: three games, three losses, and the looming threat of exiting the Champions League. The trophy cabinet did not offer much solace during this period, and the team faced a daunting finish to the year as it looked to salvage pride and form in the closing months of the campaign.
Overall, the season has tested the club’s resilience and raised questions about strategy, leadership, and squad balance. The coaching carousel, combined with a large January spend, signaled an attempt to pivot quickly, but translating off-season investments into on-pitch improvement proved elusive. The Londoners are determined to end the year on a more favorable note, aiming to rebuild confidence and lay a solid foundation for the next campaign.
Source: Goal