Dereliction of duty at Chelsea whilst rivals take the cup out of FA Cup
The domestic football season is over and thank goodness for that. From its outset back in August the narrative has followed a familiar pattern for Chelsea supporters. Defeat against Burnley in the first game of the season set the Blues on course for a disappointing title defence.
A 23 point difference between the finish of this season and the last suggests a campaign of under-achievement. A look back at the 2015/2016 season suggests that maybe the 2016/2017 Premier League Champions overachieved to take the title.
Having suffered during Jose Mourinho’s final spell at Chelsea, the feel good factor the players felt with the arrival of Antonio Conte pushed them to a higher level than ought to have been expected from a squad who finished 10th the year before. It was not quite on the scale of Leicester City’s EPL title but it was not too shabby.
As the media analyse and take great delight in Chelsea’s biennial meltdown, do not forget a place in the top four was still possible on the final day of the season. Tottenham and Liverpool have had, according to the journalistic ‘luvvies’, outstanding seasons. Liverpool’s failure to grab European glory has seen the Red’s along with Mauricio Pochettino’s free flowing Tottenham finish with just dust as the only addition to their trophy cabinets.
This, you-score-four-we-will-score-five attitude to football management may well be easy on the eye for the neutral but ultimately it gets found out. Pochettino’s four seasons at White Hart Lane has seen Tottenham win nothing at all. The same goes for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Chelsea may play a more saturnine style of football but during Pochettino’s Spurs tenure, Chelsea have won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup. But if you are not winning trophies, the best thing you can do is castigate those who are.
As Chelsea equalled Tottenham’s eight FA Cup victories and overtook Liverpool’s seven, Conte’s Chelsea have inevitably come under fire for the manner of their win over Manchester United. It was a dour 90 minutes of play to be honest. However, the history books will not record that. Neither will those same records register the glorious free flowing football that took the other two sides to third and fourth place in the Premier League.
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Those supporters who were championing European football at the top table over a trip to Wembley and the trophy it brought are as deluded as those who think Conte will remain manager. The FA Cup is damaged goods to many but for those who suffered years without so much as a sniff of silverware, it does represent a bit of history.
Despite the gloss of an FA Cup win, there has been a season long dereliction of duty throughout Chelsea Football Club. That final victory barely papers over some seismic cracks in how Roman Abramovich and his board of accountants view the club’s senior side. Financial fair play and new stadium costs contributed to a more a more frugal approach from the board in terms of playing staff. Conte chose to take his frustrations at the club’s refusal to give him the players he wanted out on the players, both old and new.
The players, for their part, reacted to Conte’s attempt to oust player power from the dressing room by turning on the manager at will. Diego’s Costa’s desire to leave the club and the managers alleged handling of the situation all but destroyed Conte’s relationship with his squad of players. The three remaining Brazilians in the squad (David Luiz, Willian and Kenedy) suffered the most.
The senior side’s problem lies somewhere between boardroom level and the players. That points the finger at two people in particular. The breakdown would appear to be between Conte and Abramovich’s right-hand women and current director of football, Marina Granovskaia. Their relationship, if some reports are accurate, is at best frosty.
The departure of Michael Emenalo, the fans perceived fall guy in the clubs transfer disasters back in November, had a negative impact that no one expected. Likewise, the loss of long time coach Steve Holland at the end of last season hampered the line of contact between the manager and the players. John Terry’s desire to see his footballing career at Aston Villa also removed another link in the chain of command.
With a new manager imminent, this whole boom and bust scenario is likely to play out all over again. Whilst Abramovich continues to bring in managers who have no real connection to the club, it will always be the case. The only chance Chelsea have for a more settled, cohesive setup is to promote from within the clubs current structure.
It is not as if Roman Abramovich tries to cut ties with former players either. The background staff at Chelsea are filled with past players. Like the youth players they tend to look after, there seems to be a reluctance to move any of them into more senior roles. Jody Morris, Eddie Newton, Tore Andre Flo, Paulo Ferreira all support the academy players. Carlo Cudicini has at least made the technical side of the bench but that is it.
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Should the next manager be Maurizio Sarri, his first job has to be to install either a technical director or a coach alongside him that has experience of Chelsea Football Club. Like it or loathe it, Abramovich runs the club in a unique way. For all its faults and flaws it is a successful strategic model for operating a football club and one the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool, for all their lovely attacking football, have yet to emulate.