Michael Emenalo’s sudden departure has triggered a wave of retrospectives. None of them give him enough credit. He oversaw one of the most successful eras in Chelsea’s history and quietly revolutionized the club behind the scenes.
It is an odd time to be a Chelsea supporter. The club has more loanees in the England squad than players from the first team. Jose Mourinho just came to Stamford Bridge with Manchester United and a handful of other ex-Blues. And Chelsea’s front office is a hot topic during the international break.
Michael Emenalo’s resignation as technical director last week sparked a number of debates about his legacy. But, to paraphrase the Bard, I come to bury Emenalo, not to praise him.
His meteoric rise from running a youth soccer club in southern Arizona to a powerful executive at Chelsea was incredible. Plucked from obscurity by Avram Grant, the Nigerian started out as a scout but quickly rose through the ranks. Upon becoming technical director, he oversaw an extraordinary reorganization of Chelsea’s academy and recruitment.
He replaced the excess of Frank Arnesen’s scattershot recruitment with a more measured approach. And it worked. Chelsea went from signing players like Fabio Borini and Franco Di Santo to Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku. Bringing in Cesar Azpilicueta for just £7 million must be one of the best value transfers of the Premier League era.
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Where would the club be now without Eden Hazard choosing Chelsea from a long list of suitors? The signings of Cesc Fabregas and N’Golo Kante led to title wins in 2015 and 2017.
The Chelsea academy teams have dominated at the youth level, winning six of the last eight FA Youth Cups and two of the last three UEFA Youth Leagues. Many fans are oddly reluctant to praise Emenalo’s leadership for these triumphs. He was always quick to praise the staff underneath him; perhaps his modesty contributes to the lack of appreciation. He certainly was judged for the failings of the academy to produce players for the first team. Shouldn’t he earn plaudits for its successes?
However, “the good men do is oft interred with their bones.” As a result, we continue to see these ambivalent retrospectives. The Emenalo Era was not perfect, but surely this man deserves credit for steering Chelsea towards success. It was no mean feat, especially once Financial Fair Play compliance became a complicating factor.
What more could one ask for from a technical director? Under his stewardship, the finest talents came to the club, the academy became one of the best in the country, and an innovative loan policy that minimizes the risks of youth development while maximizing rewards was developed.
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Not only that, but the club was wildly successful, winning the league, an FA Cup, a League Cup, the Europa League, and the Champions League. If Michael Emenalo is looking for another job, there should be no shortage of suitors.