Shame on them. Shame on each and every one of Chelsea’s excuse-a-Blues who embarrass the shirt by wearing it.
I skipped last week’s Tactics and Transfers. For you diligent readers who send me Twitter messages and such, I’m sorry. But there was not much to say. The only thing this Chelsea team needed to do was show a little bit of maturity, composure, and class to beat Tottenham and they couldn’t do it.
Then they couldn’t beat West Ham, at home. Now I am not just heartbroken by this team but deeply, in my stomach, saddened by them.
As you already know I hold a deep respect and belief that Antonio Conte should keep his job, if only to help break Chelsea out of this cycle they have now re-entered. With Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham all showing such wonderful signs of positivity (United the least, admittedly) it is hard not to see a very bleak future for this current Chelsea group.
The saddest part, of course, is they fail to at least recognize the error of their ways. Instead they persist in this sort of self-destructive behavior. They’re like an addict, and watching it happen is heartbreaking.
Here’s how it should go this summer
Chelsea should learn from their mistakes. Chelsea should accept they are not in the Champions League and it is not just one person’s fault. There are no scapegoats. Antonio Conte is a good manager but he has had his issues with substitutions and being too stubborn at times. He has flaws – he’s a human being, after all.
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But the board have also let the club down phenomenally. They bought one player the manager wanted or the club needed, several they did not and failed to solve contract issues that have weighed heavily on the club all year.
Finally, the players should accept responsibility. They have been pathetic and need a major dressing down. They think they’re world class? What a joke. Two times in three years they have missed the Champions League. They are overpaid, lazy jokes running about complaining that they know what the club and they themselves really need. In a room with them and the manager, the only certified, golden winner among them is Antonio Conte.
Once every single one of them – board, manager, players – have admitted some fault in building the situation they are in, then – like genuine adults – they should begin to rebuild. They should extend Atnonio Conte, N’Golo Kante, Andreas Christensen and Willian and lose a minimum of Eden Hazard (maybe), Thibaut Courtois, Pedro and Luiz.
Here’s how it will go this summer
Chelsea will fire Antonio Conte and bring in another charismatic, highly paid, continental supposed genius. He will be charming and say the right things and earn the kindness of the support. The players will say the right thing and like the man. They’ll get a little bit better for a year, then when consistency is necessary (and it’s harder work to maintain and grow through standards than to set them, by the way) they will flounder and Chelsea will lose that new manager.
The cycle will continue time and time again until eventually, 10 years from now, Chelsea have chopped their way down the list of respectable choices for a manager until only some chap from League Two who doesn’t know how to spell tiki-taka is the best choice and yet he will turn Chelsea down as well.
Moving On
This Chelsea side is one of the softest groups of players I can remember seeing in football. It’s a shame because they are talented. But they are so mentally weak and out of touch few, if any, of them will ever even come close to reaching the potential they all have. Since when has that been OK? Never, and certainly not in the realm of sport.
Chelsea’s current group of players didn’t even deserve to be on the field with Spurs last week and they certainly don’t deserve to be wearing the shirt either. Yes, Chelsea are a far different club from the one they were 50 years ago. They are different than the club I started supporting as a boy.
But at some point gratitude for change needs to end and an allegiance to a new standard begins. Chelsea are a big club now, a proper big one. It’s time they started acting like it.
Many will look at that statement with anger but to them, I do wonder, what is the point of sport? Is it not to compete and strive for excellence? Chelsea happens to have been bought by a man who without a doubt ushered a new level of competition into not only England but Europe. The old-world elitists are the same people who support Financial Fair Play, which is a poorly veiled shot to the new powers of world football.
Competition means embracing the emergence of new giants. Chelsea are one of them but need – soon – to start acting like it. Else they risk being exactly the type of story those old-world elitists want them to be so badly.
Chelsea’s current group of players are exactly the wrong type of men for the uphill battle of ideals Chelsea face every day. It’s a battle for hearts and minds, not just football matches. This current group fail the test every single time. Chelsea’s standards for players talent, character and dedication must be higher than before if they seek to make an impact on world football.
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The players are not more important than the club, though they seem to think they are. They are not more important than the child in the stands with his father for their weekend outing. They are not more important than the lion’s crest or stadium Chelsea call home. It’s time to end the relationship with this group of children Chelsea employs and get in proper men to build a relationship and foundation for the future.
So long as any of those players I named before are still at the club supporters should stop buying club merchandise. No shirts, no scarves, no flags or tea kettles. Make a statement: “I don’t want to be associated with this current group of players.” This should be so fun and wonderful. They make it embarrassing and difficult to be a part of.
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That leaves us with the saddest and most shameful part. It’s obvious what’s wrong, and it’s even more obvious Chelsea will not do a damn thing about it.
Shame. Shame on them.