Joe Cole has encouraged Chelsea to explore whether Jurgen Klopp would consider a sensational return to the Premier League following Enzo Maresca’s departure at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea brought in the new year with an almighty bombshell as it was officially confirmed that Maresca had decided to call time on his 18-month reign at Stamford Bridge.
The stunning news came after a dramatic decline in results of the winter period, in which the Blues managed just two wins in nine matches in all competitions, with the club sitting fifth in the Premier League table.
Maresca hinted all was not right behind the scenes last month, in the wake of Chelsea’s victory over Everton, as he pointed to a lack of ‘support’ in what he described as his ‘worst 48 hours’ in the job.
It means Chelsea, who Maresca led to Europa Conference League and Club World Cup glory, are now searching for their fifth permanent manager since Todd Boehly’s takeover in 2022.
Liam Rosenior, head coach of the BlueCo-owned Strasbourg, has emerged as the clear frontrunner to succeed Maresca and reports in France suggest talks have accelerated in recent hours.
‘I’m never surprised. Managers don’t get a fair crack of the whip across the board in football,’ ex-Chelsea and England winger Cole told Paddy Power when asked for his reaction to the news.
‘There’s so much infrastructure around a manager now, how much power does he actually have? He picks the team on the weekend and in a lot of cases I don’t even think that’s completely down to them.
‘I think there’s pressure put on managers to pick certain players, based off the managers I’ve spoken to that are in and out of jobs.
‘I don’t think he [Maresca] was given enough time. He’d done a good job in the circumstances and the club’s statement on his departure reflected that.’
According to Cole, something has gone ‘massively wrong’ if it comes to light that the medical staff were calling the shots over team selection at Chelsea – as some have reported.
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‘We’re only talking about stuff that’s being reported on, but if you’re at a football club and the medical team’s telling you when you can or can’t play the player in games, there’s something massively wrong,’ he added.
‘Of course there’s nuances, but a sensible manager won’t want to play an injured Cole Palmer, of course they wouldn’t.
‘But that’s football clubs for you now, there’s too many voices.’
Cole knows Rosenior well from his time at West Ham and believes the Strasbourg boss ‘fits the bill’ when looking at the direction Chelsea have gone in with their recent hires.
‘I’ve known Liam a long time, he was on trial as a young player at West Ham and had a very good career in the Premier League,’ the three-time Premier League winner said.
‘He’s obsessive about football, fits the bill in terms of where Chelsea have gone with their last few managers, young and something to prove.
‘Circumstances used to be that when Chelsea needed a manager, the phone was only ringing to the top dogs, but this isn’t how the current ownership is operating. Those types of managers will come in and want the full run of the place to get it going again.’
Asked who he would like to see manage Chelsea ‘in an ideal world’, Cole replied: ‘I know it’s a mental one but Jurgen Klopp.
‘I know he probably won’t even consider it because it’s Chelsea and he’s Liverpool, but you just never know.
‘If your main aim as a football club is to win trophies and you have the money, you go and speak to the top, top boys.
‘I know it seems like it’s pie in the sky, but if you don’t have that mindset then you’re always banking on developing the next best manager, which they thought they were doing with Enzo Maresca.’
After bringing an end to his glittering nine-year spell at Liverpool, Klopp took over as Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull GmbH – overseeing strategy and player development at clubs such as RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.
However, while Klopp has said that a return to management is ‘theoretically possible’, the charismatic German has repeatedly stressed he would never coach another English club but Liverpool.
‘I said I will never coach a different team in England. So that means if [I return] it’s Liverpool,’ the 58-year-old told The Diary of a CEO podcast in October.
‘So yeah, theoretically it’s possible. I love what I do right now, I don’t miss coaching, I don’t.
‘I mean, I do coach, just different, not players. And I don’t miss it. I don’t miss standing in the rain two-and-a-half, three hours.
‘I don’t miss going to press conference three times a week, having 10-12 interviews a week. I don’t miss that.’
‘I don’t miss being in the dressing room in the sense that I don’t have it often enough, I coached 1,080 something games. So, I was in the dressing room very, very often.’
Klopp added: ‘I’m 58, that’s from your perspective, old from the other side, it’s not that old. That means I could make the decision in a few years.
‘I don’t know. If I had to make the decision today, I won’t coach again but thank God I don’t have to do that.
‘I can just see what the future brings.’
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