Reacting to the sporting directors interview

In an interview with the club’s official website, Co-Sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart weighed in on the last few months, with a view in particular to discussing the squad building aspect of their job role, citing changes and heavy belief in the process of change that is being undertaken at Chelsea.

Many Chelsea fans have wanted this type of transparency, the tough questions don’t often get asked at the manager press conferences and it is rare that the owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbhali come out in public to address fan issues beyond when the fans find them lingering around Fulham road on a matchday or the odd business event in America where Chelsea inevitably becomes a topic of discussion.

‘We knew there was going to be a big transition,’ starts Winstanley. ‘No chance to sit back and relax, that’s for sure. Did we think we would oversee a Premier League record of transactions? Probably not.

“But the average age of the squad was high, we had players with contract issues which had been inherited from an ownership change, and then there were players who made it clear they wanted to leave. That needed to be addressed.’

The majority of fans worldwide both realised and accepted the need for a transition in ideas, especially in the recruitment area. Although Chelsea were regularly competitive in both the Premier League, Europe and domestic cup competitions, there was proof from the multitude of flop signings that the recruitment team needed a change in makeup, as well as the negotiation side with contracts and transfers, which were all overseen by Marina Granovskia.

No matter your thoughts on Granovskia, Roman left her by herself for many years and surrounded her with a stale talent recruitment team that regularly missed the mark and contributed to leaving the squad with players who fitted different philosophies, causing issues for several managers who came in.

You have to credit this ownership for one thing, and that is their ability to stay consistent with the approach to young players as the forefront of their recruitment plan, as well as managers who on paper fit the mold of working well upstairs as well as on the training pitch with said young players.

The question is though, why did there have to be such a drastic change in the average age of the squad, effectively in the process nullifying potential hidden gems or leaders due to them not fitting a certain age bracket, and therefore potentially delaying the length of time in which Chelsea can expect to be competing for the biggest trophies again?

Winstanley said it himself in the interview, “It won’t happen overnight” and this attitude is shared by the ownership group, recruitment team, directors and managers.

However, the one glaring factor in all of this shared belief is the fans. The large majority of fans have known nothing else than winning, they have known nothing else than going to and watching Champions League matches every year, they have known even in a less competitive season such as 2017/18 under Antonio Conte, a trophy could still be expected and delivered at the end of the season.

Some may regard the old hire and fire model as covering over cracks of real squad issues and not focusing on a sustainable future, but at least under that model there was expectation, pressure and ultimately ruthlessness to a level that is required if you aspire to be what Roman Abramovich delivered, one of the most successful on pitch clubs in the last 15 years.

The fans of the club will never change, at least this is my belief, Chelsea fans demand success and a manager and squad who deliver the best on the pitch in every game, with a unified goal of celebrating success together at the end of the season.

It feels to me like it could take a bit more time for Todd Boehly, Behdad Egbhali and other members of the hierarchy to fully realise that no matter what anyone says at the club, the fan’s view will always be that trophies should be demanded and not hoped for, why should they accept anything less? Why should they have to wait two, three, four years to see the fruits of the recruitment model now? We are Chelsea, we are winners, or at least we used to be.

I personally hope that the owners have the same relentless drive to win that Roman Abramovich has but looking at last season in particular and the way that they let irreparable damage occur before eventually sacking Graham Potter, I have my doubts.

Maybe as the years go on, the urge to win will become more urgent knowing the fact that, unlike other European powerhouses, Chelsea although a huge worldwide club, can’t deliver self-sustained mass revenue without the team in the biggest competitions and winning the biggest trophies.

Going back to the age of the squad, it is just a little over the age of 22, on average.

Paul Winstanley told the club website in the interview that “There will always be flexibility in terms of the players we bring to the club, whether that is their personality, squad role, or age. This summer, a lot of players were brought in who are under 23 years old, but many of these already have a lot of top-level experience.

I have to admit, I laughed. Since the power shifted to both Winstanley and Stewart, I cannot tell you more than two players who you could argue as having “A LOT” of top-level experience under their belts. The signings consist of players who have bundles of talent but need to be coached into something special.

Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto, Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi, Nicolas Jackson, Robert Sanchez, Lesley Ugochukwu, Angelo, Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia do NOT have a LOT of top-level experience.

Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbhali were responsible for more senior additions like Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella, but even the former had only played at a mid-table Spanish League team and Brighton.

Even someone like Christopher Nkunku could be argued to be put on the long list of players who do NOT have a LOT of top level experience. He is still relatively young and although has played in the Champions League, had a very inconsistent time at PSG and irregular game minutes before moving backward in some senses in level to RB Leipzig.

Enzo Fernandez, Chelsea’s best player, starred in the World Cup, but is still very young and lacks a lot of top level experience beyond the International stage.

Many of the players mentioned have played in Europe, but do not qualify in the same stratosphere of top level experience as some of the other successful signings the club have made in the past, so Paul Winstanley has heavily overblown the idea that many signings led by him and Laurence Stewart are already equipped with the necessary top level experience in order to win now at a club like Chelsea.

And even so, if he is right and my analysis is wrong, why should things not happen overnight like he says they won’t do? If so many of these players have top-level experience, why do we hear and read so many club briefs about patience? Why do we have struggles against teams like Nottingham Forest? Why should we wait for the good times if this season we have top-level experienced players ready to deliver whilst also factoring in the fact that they and Mauricio Pochettino will be working on a reduced one-game-a-week schedule for the majority of the season?

Laurence Stewart explained how there were certain things this past summer that they had to achieve for the club and the group because it was clear by the results on the pitch last season that things were not working. In his words, “We had to make changes to put the club in a better position. We feel we’ve done that.’

I don’t see many changes, I saw more recruitment in the same mold of player that had us struggling with inconsistency in performances last season, and the ignorance to ignore players above a certain age bracket.

Paul Winstanley insists there is always “Flexibility” when it comes to age, personality or squad role, but I am yet to see proof of this in the age department, the facts are on the table for everyone to see, Chelsea have not touched a player like Olivier Giroud to use one example with a bargepole, they don’t seem to value that type of player, even though previous successes state otherwise.

I do like the idea of a younger overall squad, I do like the idea of talented players growing together, I do like the idea of players being signed for less money rather than the proven superstar in some cases, such as Nicolas Jackson this summer, Benoit Badiashile in January and others, too.

What I do not like is the drastic measures so far to one side that have been taken, coupled by levels of ignorance and ego to not consider and add players that can actually bring pressure off of these young players to perform so fast and add leadership and dressing room experience.

I am already dreading the idea of a young, promising but raw centre-back coming in to replace Thiago Silva in the summer of 2024, having seen the impact he has had at such an older age since joining in 2020.

Time will tell how the squad will evolve, as Laurence Stewart said in the Interview, they are planning two windows in advance, and what goes into those plans will be vitally important, as if they think Mauricio Pochettino will not suffer the same eventual fate as Graham Potter did should inconsistencies continue, they would be rudely mistaken.