Did Chelsea cause the harshest managerial sacking of the year?

Former Chelsea full-back Filipe Luis has unwittingly become the protagonist of one of the craziest football stories you will read all year.

A left-back in his playing days, Luis was a 44-time Brazil international and had a lengthy career in Europe, playing for several Spanish clubs, most notably Real Madrid’s reserves and Atletico Madrid, as well as Chelsea.

In 2019, the defender returned to Brazil to sign with Rio de Janeiro giants Flamengo. He retired in 2023 and became a coach. Just a few months after taking charge of Flamengo’s U17s, he was promoted to the U20s in June 2024.

However, he didn’t stay in this role for long. In September, the Serie A side sacked Tite and again promoted Luis, this time to the role of interim head coach of the first team. Already the next day, the interim tag was dropped, and he was given a contract until the end of 2025.

It quickly became clear that his swift rise through the ranks was thoroughly merited. By November, he had claimed his first trophy, winning the Copa do Brasil after beating Atletico Mineiro.

Flamengo dominate Brazilian football

That first success was nothing compared to what would follow. Thanks to Luis’ coaching, as well as smart and ambitious recruitment from director Jose Boto, Flamengo dominated Brazilian football in 2025.

In February, Luis’ men defeated Botafogo to win the Supercopa. The following month, Flamengo claimed their 39th state championship, the Campeonato Carioca, after beating Fluminense in the finals.

From August to November, Flamengo advanced through the Copa Libertadores, beating Brazilian and Argentine teams on their way to their fourth title in the prestigious competition.

They achieved this despite being locked in an intense Serie A title race with Palmeiras – the team they would defeat in the Libertadores final. Although Flamengo had briefly slipped down to second, they ultimately prevailed over the Sao Paulo outfit once more.

Once the domestic league season concluded, Flamengo competed in the Intercontinental Cup, where they defeated Cruz Azul in the Derby of the Americas and Pyramids FC in the Challenger Cup before losing the real final to PSG.

The only available trophies Flamengo did not win in 2025 were the Club World Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the Copa do Brasil. It was a spectacular season from Luis and company.

Unsurprisingly, his contract was extended by two more years in late December. However, less than three months on from this extension, he has now been sacked by Flamengo.

How Luis’ tenure unravelled

You would think that after such a remarkable 2025, Luis would have plenty of credit in the bank, but this is not how Brazilian football operates. When Enzo Maresca and Chelsea went their separate ways, ESPN Brazil drew parallels between local owners and the Blues’ hierarchy.

Essentially, the conclusion was that if Chelsea were playing in Brazil, their ridiculous managerial turnover would be nothing out of the ordinary. Luis has now learned this the hard way, and there are rumours that his former club even played a part in his sacking.

Immediately after beating Madureira in the Carioca semi-final 8-0 (and 11-0 on aggregate) overnight, the 40-year-old was left stunned when he was informed by the aforementioned Boto that he had been relieved of his duties.

The announcement took Luis by surprise, and the meeting between the two reportedly did not last longer than 30 minutes. The decision, however, was not made by Boto, he simply had to communicate it.

It was club president Bap (Luiz Eduardo Baptista) who had decided to cut Luis loose. Despite the progression in the Carioca and averaging a trophy every 13 games, the coach has overseen Flamengo’s worst start to a season in a decade.

Flamengo lost the Supercopa do Brasil on 1 February to Corinthians and then the Recopa Sudamericana to Argentine side Lanus at the end of the month, while only winning one of their first three games in the league.

It came after huge investment in January, most notably bringing Lucas Paqueta back to the club in a record-shattering €42 million deal. Bap felt that a change was needed, with Leonardo Jardim replacing Luis.

Although there have been some claims in the Brazilian media that not all the players were happy with Luis’ coaching – which is perfectly normal, especially for the ones that don’t play – there has been widespread condemnation of his knee-jerk sacking.

Flamengo’s official announcement on X was bombarded with messages from unhappy fans, garnering 10,000 replies within just a couple of hours. Players have taken to social media to wish their coach well, while the sister of Flamengo midfielder Jorginho, formerly of Arsenal and Chelsea, took aim at the supporters who had called for Luis’ sacking.

“Scummy fans! Shameless fans! What scummy fans that only support when things are going well, don’t understand a thing about season strategy and were still at the stadium yesterday yelling sh*t,” she thundered.

“Are you happy now with this huge sh*t you brought on Filipe? Good to know that’s how you treat your idols. Shame, shame, shame, shameless fans!”

According to journalist Rodrigo Mattos, Luis’ sacking wasn’t purely down to results. He claims that tension had been simmering behind the scenes since the extension talks in December.

That is because, at the time, the 40-year-old was also approached by BlueCo when it became clear that Maresca’s position was becoming untenable. He engaged with the Chelsea owners, thinking that he was in line for the Stamford Bridge job.

Whenhe realised that he was instead earmarked to replace Liam Rosenior at Strasbourg, he decided to continue discussions with Flamengo. However, this only came after he had allegedly gone three days without responding to the club board.

Naturally, this irritated Bap, and the relationship fractured when he found out about the talks with BlueCo, feeling that Luis would have “betrayed” Flamengo had he been offered the Chelsea job.

Despite this, it is perhaps not far-fetched to claim that this is already the harshest managerial sacking of 2026 – and we’re only in March.

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