Chelsea and Manchester United are once again at the center of managerial speculation after difficult starts to the 2025/26 season, though both boards insist they are standing by their current coaches.
At Stamford Bridge, Enzo Maresca has found himself in the firing line after Chelsea managed just two wins from their first six Premier League matches. A 2-1 defeat to Brighton, compounded by disciplinary problems and injuries to key players such as Levi Colwill, Cole Palmer, and Liam Delap, has deepened fan frustration. Supporters fear a repeat of past campaigns when early stumbles spiraled into lost seasons.
Yet, owner Todd Boehly and the Chelsea board are holding firm. Their confidence in Maresca comes from his track record of steadying the ship under even worse circumstances last season, when Chelsea won just three of their opening 12 matches before rallying to secure a European place and an FA Cup scalp against Morecambe. The board believes the current struggles stem more from injuries and red cards than from poor management.
Maresca’s immediate challenge is the Champions League, where Chelsea must recover from an opening defeat to Bayern Munich. The next clash with Benfica — now led by former Blues boss José Mourinho, who won the Premier League three times with Chelsea — adds extra weight. A strong result in Europe could ease tensions, while another loss would test Boehly’s patience and risk inflaming the fan base.
For Manchester United, the story is strikingly similar. Ruben Amorim’s men slumped to a 3-1 defeat against Brentford, quickly cooling the optimism that followed their victory over Chelsea. United have not won back-to-back league games under Amorim, and the alarming statistic of conceding the first goal in 21 matches since November 2024 points to deeper tactical flaws.
Nevertheless, co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has so far refused to waver. According to reports in the Daily Mail and BBC Sport, Ratcliffe is determined not to panic and will give Amorim the entire season to prove himself with a squad still undergoing transition. Speculation about successors, including England’s Gareth Southgate and former Chelsea boss Graham Potter, has been dismissed for now.
Amorim remains outwardly defiant, dismissing talk of his job being on the line. But with United winless away from home since March and still vulnerable to long balls despite repeated training drills, fan patience is thinning. The frustration echoes previous eras of managerial churn, when Ole Gunnar Solskjær, José Mourinho, and Louis van Gaal were all dismissed after failing to deliver consistency.
Both clubs’ current approaches contrast with their turbulent recent histories. Chelsea, under Roman Abramovich and now Todd Boehly, have developed a reputation for quick dismissals — Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, and Mauricio Pochettino were all sacked within three years before Maresca’s appointment. United, meanwhile, have struggled to find stability since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, cycling through David Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho, Solskjær, and most recently Erik ten Hag before Amorim’s arrival.
For now, both boards are sticking to a strategy of patience, hoping that stability yields long-term success. But with demanding fan bases and the weight of history looming, the coming weeks — particularly Chelsea’s European campaign and United’s away fixtures — may determine whether that patience holds or if football’s ruthless cycle of sackings strikes again.
