Chelsea Legends match should be mandatory for the squad
By Travis Tyler
Chelsea’s legends are playing Inter Milan’s legends on the eve of the FA Cup. It should be mandatory for the first team so they see what the club means.
Twenty years ago, Chelsea won three trophies in one calendar year. It began with the FA Cup under Ruud Gullit and ended with the League Cup and the Cup Winners’ Cup under Gianluca Vialli. The squad included the likes of Gianfranco Zola, Dennis Wise, Graeme Le Saux, Tore Andre Flo, Dan Petrescu, Roberto Di Matteo, Marcel Desailly, and Frank Leboeuf. All of them, plus Vialli, will suit up at Stamford Bridge for the legends match.
This set of players embodies the core of Chelsea. Even after Roman Abramovich’s money and the success that followed, the culture formed by the legends remains. It was tweaked by Jose Mourinho, but it is still there. It is the club and the club is it.
But as time goes on, that connection fades away. Unless players go out of their way to reach out, that culture and connectedness to the fans will disappear. Thus, it should be mandatory for every Chelsea player to go watch the legends match.
The current squad, especially in this season and in 2015/2016, has lost itself. The lack of fight that so often shows up in their game was nowhere to be seen in ’98. Thus, watching the old boys will be a learning experience.
Fans are expected to turn up for the match. Perhaps not enough to fill Stamford Bridge, but a sizable crowd. That crowd will show up to feel connected to their club once more. That connection is vital. That underdog status is vital. It must never be lost.
If the current squad goes to watch, as they should, they should at least take some lesson away. They will see how much support players get 20 years after leaving Chelsea. They will see how winning a trophy against all odds etches their name into history.
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The current squad has become complacent. Trophies are abundant and thus devalued. On the eve of an FA Cup final, they must find that part of themselves once more. Especially after the drop off in the league this season.
Maybe the squad can go see what it means to be Chelsea. These players need to see what that means. Even at 40 plus, these players will give their all against Inter Milan’s legends. Because it means everything to them. It was not just a employer, but a lifestyle.
Can the current squad say the same? Would Eden Hazard or Gary Cahill be willing to stay at Chelsea forever because they love it that much? Maybe, maybe not. But they will learn what it means by watching the legends.
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Then they can take that into the FA Cup final. And going into international duty, they will have that thought in the back of their mind. What is Chelsea? And maybe that thought will swim around in their head all summer. The ones that do not get it can decide to go. But perhaps others will feel inspired. Perhaps they will hear the voices of the old legends in the back of their head saying “this is Chelsea.”