Chelsea could spend several years battling for third… among London clubs
By George Perry
Chelsea are several years behind their rivals who are building squads meant to succeed in the next era of the Premier League. The Blues will be struggling to compete in London derbies, let alone for titles, without a similar level of managerial commitment.
Mauricio Pochettino arrived at Tottenham in 2014, and on Thursday the team committed to him through 2023. Pep Guardiola started at Manchester in 2016, and his future is secure through 2021. Jurgen Klopp could have Liverpool the champions of Europe this weekend, or he could extend their trophy-less streak to six years. Either way, he knows where he will be for the next few seasons.
Meanwhile, the latest rumours – perhaps fact, by the time you read this – have Chelsea offering Maurizio Sarri a two-year contract. Give them credit for their honesty and financial planning. Chelsea are tired of the severance pay-outs.
Taken in isolation, by firing Conte Chelsea are turning back the clock to 2015, 2012, 2011, 2007, and 2004. In light of their competitors, though, the Blues taking themselves back to the pre-Abramovich era, where they were hardly a factor at the top of the table.
Manchester City and Liverpool are writing the blueprint for the next stage of the Premier League. They are spending heavily, but not lavishly. Both clubs set club records for transfers, but came nowhere close to the world record. They are building teams balanced around skills, age, experience and tactics, rather than prestige buys. They are not collecting superstars, they are incubating them. The coaches, then, are creating winning teams who play well-defined, technically-advanced tactics.
Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have the freedom to take risks because they have the confidence of their clubs. Liverpool’s confidence in Klopp becomes Klopp’s confidence in Mohamed Salah. Salah’s emergence powers Liverpool’s performance, results and fame, validating Klopp. Klopp funnels that momentum into Trent Alexander-Arnold, who takes it to the World Cup. And the cycle keeps on going.
If Manchester City, Liverpool or – dare we say it, yes, we’re going there – Tottenham gave their managers the Chelsea treatment, none of those clubs would be where they are today. Manchester City would not be the Premier League champions, or perhaps they would be but Chelsea’s records would remain intact. Liverpool would not be in the Champions League finals. Tottenham would not be the highest-finishing London club, nor would they be a feeder program for England’s national team.
They would be… middling, full of almost-great players on a far-from-great team, brilliant at times but confounding at many others, collapsing into Europa League after thinking the Champions League was their birthright. They would be, in a word, Chelsea.
Among the top six clubs, Chelsea have the most in common with Manchester United. Both teams are coasting on momentum built in years past, but they are not putting any new energy into the system. Jose Mourinho is surviving on outdated tactics, while Chelsea are riding the end of their nouveau riche days. In a way, Chelsea have an easier task ahead of them simply because they do not have so much institutional inertia behind them. Manchester United battles Sir Alex Ferguson’s legacy as much as they enjoy it. The Blues are still struggling to find out who they are given their hodgepodge patrimony of managers and increasingly absentee ownership of Roman Abramovich.
Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham know exactly who they are and who they want to be. Their managers are both part of that identity and the ones crafting it everyday. Their identity shows up in their tactics, their transfers, their football culture and their business culture. It is the united front, the smiles, the positive social media, the league titles, the World Cup debutantes, the night in Kiev.
Chelsea may be stuck hoping Arsenal manage their post-Arsene Wenger transition as poorly as Manchester United managed the post-Ferguson era. Unfortunately, Unai Emery is no David Moyes. Tottenham may not have the winning mentality to win trophies, but they have a team that can finish above Chelsea. If Chelsea cannot finish above the other major London clubs, they have little hope of returning to the Champions League in the near future.
Of course, it doesn’t help that Chelsea struggled so much against the lesser London clubs this season. Nor that Burnley are now knocking on the Europa League door. Burnley, a club whose commitment to their manager exceeds even Tottenham’s and Liverpool’s.
Next: Maurizio Sarri's squad management practices calcified in Serie B
Chelsea may find themselves looking up the table at far too many examples of how to manage a modern Premier League team. Perhaps in two years they will set things right.