Chelsea and Roman Abramovich were once a club that knew what they wanted. That is no longer true and it effects every level of the club.
When Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He targeted Jose Mourinho, the biggest up and coming manager in the game. He had the club go after target after target to strengthen the squad.
But when Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain were also bought by big money, the equation changed. Chelsea could not compete in the same way as before, so the model changed. The spine from before remained, but the Blues shifted their attention more and more to great deals and amassing talent to loan out and profit off of.
The new method peaked before the 2014/2015 season when Chelsea absolutely stole Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa. The loan army was at its height under Michael Emenalo and Chelsea were looking to be on the right path. Then 2015/2016 happened. Antonio Conte was brought in to right the ship, which he did, but he proved to be incompatible with the new, bargain bin Chelsea. Emenalo departed and the club are now in a place where they have no idea where to go next.
The club lacks identity from top to bottom. The Blues do not know who or what they want in a manager, they only know they need one. They do not know what they want in a technical director and seem unbothered by the continued absence of one. Chelsea have one of the best academies in the world and a loan army with incredible talents, but are unconvinced that they can bring them into the club. The Blues want a new stadium, but not at the cost of their current location. And Roman Abramovich is not allowed in England currently. In short, it is an absolute, disastrous mess.
Chelsea have been slow to act for several summers, but the delay in the managerial situation is one of the most embarrassing. For over a year now, reports of Conte and the board being at odds have circulated. The board has had all that time to plan for the eventuality of Conte leaving. The best they could come up with is Maurizio Sarri who had a release clause which the board would have known about for a long time but had little desire to actually pay.
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So who is plan B if Sarri fails? Apparently Laurent Blanc, an entirely different manager. This simply shows that the boards only criteria for a new manager is “are the available?” with no further vision involved. They are not targeting a style, as Barcelona or even Arsenal would do. They are merely looking at the dollar signs.
What of transfers? Well none have happened and few reputable ones have been linked. After a year of bargain binning and Conte complaining about it, the board has learned nothing. Thibaut Courtois could go for free in a year and Chelsea likely have no current targets if it happens.
Part of that will be because of the technical director vacancy. Mind, the board has had months to find a replacement but lack the urgency to do so. Without someone to point the ship in a particular direction, the ship goes in circles until it is dead in the water.
Then there is the matter of Jody Morris departing the academy to be Frank Lampard’s assistant. Both should have been fostered at Chelsea but went elsewhere to grow. But when the academy has produced a whopping two players this millennium (John Terry and Andreas Christensen), it is unsurprising that coaches fail to be produced in house as well.
The one eye on the future Chelsea did have, the stadium rebuild, has now been shut because Abramovich is uncomfortable with investing so much in a country that he cannot enter. Chelsea need to have a stadium large enough to compete with the world’s best, but circumstances have held Chelsea back and now it is off the table.
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Chelsea have no vision. They do not know what they want and absolutely no clue how to get the things they do. And the worst part is that they do not even realize the problem. The scattershot approach has yielded silverware despite itself, but the time for that is running out rapidly.