The Chelsea way: Ruthlessness and simplicity in contrast to others

By a rough estimate, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have been sacked somewhere between leaving the pitch and getting in his car if he were Chelsea manager. The days that have followed Manchester United’s complete destruction in the theater of nightmares by Liverpool were the usual song and dance. Former teammates and coaches associated with United, which is seemingly everyone, came out to talk about the “Manchester United way”.

What is the way of a club? It’s something that is heard often, usually when discussing formerly superstar clubs like United, Arsenal, or Barcelona. They can’t hire just any manager or buy any player. They have to get someone that matches “the way”. Usually, this is a clever method to say they need to be attacking, even if (in the case of United and Arsenal) they had some of their best success being defensive. It’s kept Solskjaer in his job this long because he knows the United way in a way that Jose Mourinho somehow didn’t despite having better finishes. Mikel Arteta too despite not really comparing to Unai Emery’s time at the club. Even Barcelona has fallen victim to this trap, seemingly looking exclusively at past players that “get it”.

What is the Chelsea way? It’s simple and ruthless and that’s likely why the Blues have been able to stay above water even during the bad spells. It can be summed up as simply as “do what it takes to win”.

The Chelsea way, though often most successful under defensive masterminds, is independent of style. Are the Blues winning? That’s all it takes. Far too many clubs forget that playing pretty may delay the fall, but it won’t save the club from the fall if the results aren’t there.

The Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel switch is just the latest clear sign of that. Lampard’s Chelsea was first, but one bad month saw the club crash down. Other clubs would have continued to back him. Chelsea isn’t other clubs. They didn’t hesitate to sack a club legend after a bad run shorter than the likes of Solskjaer and Arteta have seen. And should a similar bad month come for Tuchel, even the Champions League won’t save him. It certainly didn’t save Roberto Di Matteo just months after winning the Blues’ first big eared trophy.

Of course, there is some level of understanding that this type of ruthlessness won’t always work. At various times in the last two decades, Chelsea has looked like a Frankenstein club assembled by multiple managers with vastly different ideas on how to win, whatever it takes. The policy that saw initial success in the 2000s was less successful in the 2010s and, should it continue in the 2020s, it isn’t unlikely the underlying issues become worse.

But, at the same time, Chelsea’s never fallen to the sustained lows of others. They are wrapped up in playing the right way or having the right attitude. It’s just win, whatever it takes. If that means scraping out 1-0 every week and boring people to tears then so be it. If that means blowing a team away 6-0, all the better.

United is dilly dallying over what to do about a manager who has clearly hit a ceiling and has run his course. Arsenal has been in the same spot recently and decided to accept things as they are. Tottenham is sure to be the next up after searching all summer for a manager to fit “their way” and then landing on someone that isn’t that. Even Manchester City and Liverpool will likely become guilty of this in the future.

But Chelsea? Chelsea’s way is simple and ruthless and no amount of previous success or style will spare the ax if current results aren’t up to snuff.