Chelsea is starting to look at possible replacements for Jose Mourinho following another loss with Diego Simeone and Brendan Rodgers among the most likely candidates.
Question marks surrounding Jose Mourinho’s future with the club continue to pile after Chelsea suffered another Premier League loss. Twice in their last four games, Chelsea couldn’t get it done on a cold, rainy night in Stoke having already lost their title defense of the Capital One Cup. After being handed a one-match stadium ban, Mourinho wasn’t even on the sidelines to witness Chelsea’s latest capitulation.
There have been plenty of rumours regarding how much longer Mourinho will last, and if he is sacked, who will replace him. A new report has emerged from The Sunday People that Diego Simeone of Atletico Madrid is looking to opt out of his contract, with Chelsea eyeing his status closely.
In the same report, former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has been considered to take over as an interim manager if Chelsea can’t wait until the end of the season to fire Mourinho.
While many people are quick to dismiss reports such as these, they start to make sense when looking at the managers with the best odds to take over the Chelsea job. Per Oddschecker.com, Simeone is the fourth most likely candidate at 7-1 with Rodgers following him at 8-1.
If anything, Chelsea should be considered favorites to land Simeone’s signature because they have conducted successful business with Atletico Madrid in the past, buying Diego Costa and Filipe Luis before selling the latter back. Simeone is regarded as one of the best young managers in football after he snatched the La Liga title away from Barcelona and Real Madrid in 2013/14 after the two had alternated the league title for the past nine years. There is no doubt that he is more than capable to lead Chelsea back to the summit.
Liverpool’s dramatic slide last season and at the start of this season was what led to his demise, but with the club looking no different under Jurgen Klopp, it’s clear that Rodgers wasn’t the problem. If hired by Chelsea, Rodgers will no doubt look to silence the media critics that helped drive him out of his job at Liverpool. And having skilled attacking players like Hazard and Costa at his disposal will ensure that he has plenty of options to work with.
Chelsea are in dire straits right now, and they are in desperate need of a spark. The players need to start performing better, and having a fresh voice in the room might provide it if Mourinho can’t engineer a quick turnaround.