Chelsea fans are shifting their momentum for Ruben Loftus-Cheek to leave the club for his own good. The fans can forgive a lot, but not the continued dashing of their next great hope’s hopes.
A friendly match against the most neutral opponent could be a turning point in the three-way relationship between Chelsea, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and the fans. Over the last few days a spurt of pundits, fans and possibly even some supporters have urged Loftus-Cheek to call time on his 15-year relationship with Chelsea while he still has something to lose. As Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard neatly put it, something is wrong when a player’s first start of the season is for his national team and not his club.
While the game was a friendly it still had plenty riding on it. For starters, Gareth Southgate does not think any game is disposable. Part of his cultural overhaul at England is making every moment a factor for his next team sheet. Any player who slacked off against Switzerland because it was “just a friendly” would find himself watching the next round of international games from home. If Southgate puts you on the pitch, it means two things: you have earned it, and you damn well better go out and earn the next one.
Second, England had lost their previous three games. The Three Lions had never lost four in a row, and Southgate did not want that mark on his record nor clouding his team’s mentality.
Unlike Chelsea’s long winless streak at Newcastle, England’s losing streak was actually meaningful because the games were all under the same manager and most of the same players. What happened to Chelsea at St. James’ Park in the years since Andre Villas-Boas won there influenced nothing about Maurizio Sarri’s trip there last month. The squad had undergone at least one 100% turnover, let alone the number of managers between Villas-Boas and Sarri. But for England to have lost four times in a row, it would have four losses for Gareth Southgate, Steve Holland, Harry Kane and the rest.
Southgate quipped that the banter will now change to “England must not lose four consecutive competitive games” ahead of October’s match against Croatia.
Loftus-Cheek did not do much with his chance against Switzerland, as England’s heavily-rotated lineup overall failed to launch. For most of the players on the pitch, their turgid performance against Switzerland means the next few weeks of club football are doubly important for Southgate’s next England selection. In addition to his usual high bar, they have to overcome the disappointing impression they left on him at King Power Stadium.
But for Loftus-Cheek those chances just aren’t there. He may have some hope with the Carabao Cup and Europa League starting this month. In a sense he lucky Chelsea drew Liverpool for their Carabao Cup opener so he can have the opportunity to play against a Premier League club, if not a Premier League-quality XI. But if Southgate is not willing to look much down the lower tiers of football or into the youth ranks, he may not be too interested in – let alone impressed by – anything that happens in the Carabao Cup.
Loftus-Cheek’s predicament is becoming too obvious for anyone to ignore, and has been dragging on too long for anyone to overlook. There’s no level of partisanship that can be gratified by Loftus-Cheek spending another season in Chelsea blue on a Chelsea bench. The prospect of him ascending into the first team now has the tone of redeeming the club’s treatment of him the last few years rather than fulfilling his long-touted destiny as The Next John Terry. And so we have the unusual situation where Chelsea fans are rallying behind a much-beloved homegrown player who they have supported for years to leave the club.
Chelsea had the opportunity to make good on Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s career several times in the last year. But first they bought Ross Barkley, then they denied Loftus-Cheek a loan and then they brought in Mateo Kovacic on loan with option buy. Chelsea never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Loftus-Cheek did the right thing, or at least what he (and most of us) thought was the right thing, by saying he would fight for his place at Chelsea. It was definitely a higher road than anything Willian or Thibaut Courtois have ever tread. But if Chelsea are not willing to let him into the ring and fight, he’s just shadow-boxing with his own career for club and country.
Between now and the January transfer window Maurizio Sarri (and the technical director, if Chelsea had one, which they haven’t for 309 days as of this writing) will need to decide on whether Ruben Loftus-Cheek has a future at the club.
They must communicate this explicitly to him so he can decide appropriately for the second half of the season, and his career beyond that. Gareth Southgate, Euro 2020 and the next World Cup await the outcome.