It’s year three of the Clearlake – Todd Boehly consortium, over a billion pound has been spent and Chelsea are firing on all cylinders with a head coach the fans love and a squad that has the perfect balance… well, that’s how it should be.
In reality, Chelsea are currently 7th in year three of the ownership, which we can’t be calling new anymore. Champions League qualification is starting to look doubtful after a great start to the season and fans are getting extremely fed up on a variety of issues.
The lack of movement on either Stadium redevelopment or a new ground, ticketing issues, inconsistent communication, squad building and a revolving door of staff has led fans to start a protest before tomorrow’s game against Southampton.
The protest, organised by unhappy match goers and spread on X, will see an unconfirmed amount gather at the Bovril gate at 6pm to seemingly protest against the ownership.
Whilst sources have confirmed that Clearlake will be going nowhere anytime soon, perhaps the protest and banners at the ground will make the hierarchy start to realise that they do not want to start a ‘war’ with the fanbase and will have to buck up their ideas to avoid unfixable damage.
One fan contacted by London’sFirst said : “I agree with the protesting against the ownership because they have taken us down a route which is NOT Chelsea DNA and turned us into a mid table mediocre model by vowing to sign the best talents and move them on for big fees, i.e.: Brighton”
“Their biggest downfall/issue they have done is hire two incompetent sporting directors who have mis profiled signings and thrown managers under the bus consistently with the lack of backing of their own players”
“Finally, off the field issues such as ticketing prices increasing, even for cup games. Also tickets are re sold for grands worth by Todd Boehly, something needs to change fast to get the old Chelsea DNA back and the fans need to voice their opinion loudly!
Another said: “The strategy of buying young players is clearly not working, why do we persist with this strategy? Purchases of players are not evenly spread either, case and point with the goalkeeper position, we have about eight on our books!”
So what are these issues that the fans are angry about? Is the squad as bad as people think? The overall answer is no, the ownership have recruited some talented players in the likes of Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and others, but after so much spent, there are still MAJOR squad issues.
Goalkeeper – Did Chelsea loan the best current option?
Under this ownership, Chelsea have bought Gabriel Slonina, Djordje Petrovic, Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen and Mike Penders for a combined £88.1m.
Despite this, it is youngster Mike Penders, dubbed the new Thibaut Courtois, who might actually provide the biggest reason of optimism.
Filip Jorgensen looks steady on the ball but shaky at commanding his box, Robert Sanchez has made more errors leading to goals than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League whilst Gabriel Slonina has failed to hit the projected heights.
The other option not yet discussed is Djordje Petrovic, who Chelsea decided to send to sister club Strasbourg on loan for the season.
Petrovic has been incredibly impressive, preventing more goals than any of Chelsea’s goalkeepers whilst boasting a stat of having the most passes played per 90 than any other goalkeeper in Europe.
Chelsea could say that the plan to loan him worked, especially as the focus was on building his ball playing skills, but others will say that the club should have kept faith in him after a positive first season.
In any case, it is unlikely that 20 year old Mike Penders will not face significant challenges next season and beyond, so Chelsea should think twice before throwing him in the deep end.
After all, goalkeeper and striker are the two most unforgiving positions in Football and it speaks volumes that no Chelsea fan would flinch should the club decide to sell most of the ones they have bought. In reality, they probably should.
Centre back – No world class option
When you think of the spine of a team, you point to goalkeeper, centre back and striker. Chelsea’s current centre back options have SO many flaws.
Wesley Fofana cannot be trusted with his fitness, Benoit Badiashile looks like a lost cause without Thiago Silva next to him and Tosin has failed to provide any positive consistency in the Premier League.
Trevoh Chalobah was re-called from his loan at Crystal Palace but he has also failed to pull up any tree’s and is now out with a small injury.
Levi Colwill of course is Chelsea’s biggest hope but at 21, he is still developing and has been shaky particularly in ‘big games’ this season. He gave away a penalty at Liverpool and lost his man for Spurs’s opener in December.
Recent mistakes against West Ham and Brighton have showed the desperate need for a world class, experienced partner. Chelsea need someone who is of quality but has also been there and done it.
Thiago Silva can never be replaced, he was a unicorn Footballer, but Chelsea must stay away from more young centre backs and instead raise funds from the current crop and invest in a true mentor at the back.
Could Chelsea tempt Marquinhos into a new challenge? Ruben Dias? Cristian Romero?
Midfield – All talent, no balance?
The position of midfield is perhaps one of strength for Chelsea with both Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo key pieces for the future. Beyond that though, there are some major concerns.
Kiernan Dewsbury Hall has flopped whilst Carney Chukwuemeka and Joao Felix have been loaned. Renato Veiga, bought to be at least an option to invert into midfield, has also been loaned.
Cole Palmer can be included in this list now that he starts as a number ten, but he plays as more of an attacker. Enzo Maresca was using Cesare Casadei in Europe but he was sold in January.
Then you have the awkward subject of Romeo Lavia who is undoubtedly a very good player but has already missed 23 games this season with three separate hamstring injuries.
Moises Caicedo is the only midfielder who is regularly available to play in the double pivot and to make sure that he can continue to be the effective box to box machine he is, he needs a consistent partner.
The hope of course was to have that be Enzo Fernandez but he is showing his best form as an attacking number eight with both Pochettino and Maresca advising against playing him as the number six due to his lack of defensive nous, duel success and pace.
Chelsea signed 19 year old Mathis Amougou in January, yet he has not played a single minute. It just begs the question again, what was the need for that signing? Could they have not gotten in an older, more experienced midfielder to help get control of matches when Chelsea take the lead?
Striker – The ultimate sacrifice
Aren’t we all just so fed up of Chelsea and striker talk? Despite Nicolas Jackson’s positive first season where he netted 14 league goals, it is evident to anyone who watches games that he lacks both the natural box instinct and ball striking to be a reliable source of goals.
This season, Jackson has netted nine goals but went on a huge eight game stretch without a goal before then getting injured, ruling him out until April.
Chelsea’s striker conundrum is fascinating in many ways as the squad clearly does miss Jackson’s hold up and link up play yet as previously said, it is evident when he does play that the squad also needs a consistent box threat.
Cole Palmer is the biggest victim of Chelsea’s struggles in front of goal as not only does he have to carry that burden, he also has been left with zero assists from 32 chances created since December, more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues.
Currently, Maresca is alternating between Nkunku and Neto, but neither will solve this issue. Chelsea’s owners need to do something that they don’t like, pay big wages for a big player… aka act like Chelsea for once and make a sacrifice for the betterment of the team.
Whilst Liam Delap is an interesting player and certainly has tools that Chelsea lack, there is surely doubt that another young, developing striker is the solution to fire Chelsea back to titles.
So, who do they turn to? For me, Victor Osimhen or Viktor Gyokeres. Whilst Alexander Isak is the dream, even I would admit he is likely to be financially ungettable.
Victor Osimhen would be a top addition, nonetheless because he offers leadership that you can’t teach. Osimhen is available for around £65m in the summer and has wages around the £250,000 a week mark.
He has scored 20 goals in all competitions this season for Galatasaray and spearheaded Napoli’s title win just two seasons ago with 26 league goals.
Whilst he does miss more big chances than perhaps people would expect, his numbers don’t lie and neither does his play style.
Osimhen is a long legged, rapid striker who is exceptional from crossing situations and when you see how many crosses that Chelsea do not convert, I struggle to see why Osimhen would not be a fantastic solution to Chelsea’s issues.
The other striker that would raise Chelsea’s floor massively is Viktor Gyokeres. The Swedish talisman has been ripping up the Portuguese league with a combined 52 goals in 55 games and he also hit a hattrick against Manchester City in this season’s UEFA Champions League.
Gyokeres is of stocky build which he uses to bully defenders so there would certainly be no physicality adaptation concerns. He likes to run in behind but is also effective against a deep block as he shoots with precision and power and gets his shots off fast.
Most importantly, he has experience in England, albeit the Championship. The Premier League has some great cases of strikers doing well from the second tier with the likes of Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney, Callum Wilson, Dominic Solanke and Tammy Abraham proving good reference points.
And for those worried about Jackson being permanently ‘replaced’ don’t. This is Chelsea, there should be top competition in every spot and signing a top striker would help push Jackson to become a better player as the demand for higher standards would be there, whilst also providing a role model to look up to.
All in all, Chelsea fans very much have reason to protest. The intention is there, but the execution has been horrid. The club ignore intangibles, leadership and experience and instead focus primarily on data with a search filter of 23 and under on the large majority of cases.
No side in Premier League history has won the league or the UEFA Champions League with an average age of 23 and it remains baffling as to why Chelsea’s American businessmen believe they can be the first ones to achieve such a feat.
For now and hopefully only for now, this phrase rings true : “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail”
