With 13 games left in the Premier League season, Chelsea’s Premier League title defence flamed out some time ago as they now face a real fight to secure a top-four finish and a place in next season’s Champions League – visit these top betting sites on the best odds on Chelsea to finish in the top four this season.
For much of the last 12 months, Antonio Conte has been at loggerheads with the Chelsea hierarchy especially in regard to the club’s transfer policy and few can doubt that the Blues have been left short-handed in some areas especially in attack.
While no one can deny that Roman Abramovich has overseen unrivalled success at Stamford Bridge since taking over the club but there has never been any real semblance of a long-term plan or strategy in place at the club.
Managers have come and gone, with the majority of them bringing success on both a domestic and European front, and Antonio Conte is the latest in a succession of high-profile managers that have been unable to stamp their authority on day-to-day operations at the club despite leading the club to the FA Cup final and a fifth Premier League title.
Conte isn’t satisfied with the club’s transfer policy and it was evident in the summer when he called out the club for not giving him the resources he needed to compete with the likes of Manchester City or Manchester United, but the fact of the matter is Chelsea believe they have a model which is sustainable when it comes to incomings and outgoings and the manager’s opinion isn’t the be all and end all – it’s simply what it is, an opinion.
As the subtle digs Conte makes towards the Chelsea decision makers become more and more prominent as the weeks go by, it’s increasingly likely that the two will part ways in the summer and thus kickstarting a new era at the club which will undoubtedly follow the same path as those that came before it under Abramovich – short-term success followed by a falling out regarding club operations which ultimately results in the club moving on and finding a new manager.
Is it time Chelsea abandon their current methods and try and adopt a long-term vision as opposed to the constant chopping and changing of managers? Perhaps so.
With new managers comes a renewed sense to make a strong first impression and a strong start to the new campaign, which means recruiting new players and putting their own stamp on the squad but are Chelsea taking the eye off the ball in regards to their own talent?
Chelsea set a Premier League record in the summer when they sent five players out on loan to fellow top-flight clubs and coupled with the impressive development of Nathan Ake at Bournemouth, Bertrand Traore at Lyon and Nathaniel Chalobah at Watford, it’s clear that something’s gone awry behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge and their own talent judgement isn’t as accurate as it once was.
The talent pool is there at Chelsea in regards to young players coming through. Lewis Baker, Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are three of the more senior talents that deserve a real look in the first-team, while the likes of Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ethan Ampadu are also looking to bridge that gap between the U23s and the senior squad.
After years of short-term fixes, Chelsea are ready for a long-term plan to be put in place so they can provide a sustained challenge to Manchester City – who themselves have broken away from making hasty decisions regarding the manager to fully buying into Pep Guardiola’s philosophy of developing a football club in all facets – and can start to reap the rewards that their infrastructure is providing them.
