Chelsea Tactics and Transfers: More time means a more thorough rebuild

Coronavirus has shut down the entire football world. For a team like Chelsea in the midst of a rebuild, the extra time is not the worst thing in the world.

The Blues need to spend the coronavirus-induced shutdown thinking and plotting the exact right move, but also learning to be more patient. They are in their particular situation because of years of reckless spending and impatient deal-making. Thinking only of the now and never of the later has Chelsea paying £236 million a year for a squad that has missed Europe as many times as it has qualified in recent years. Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid all pay their sides less than Chelsea do. They are irrefutably better and boast more interesting, famous inspiring and all-around better players. If not for Frank Lampard’s youth revolution, it would be even worse of a situation. They should know that and meditate on it.

For too long the Blues have eschewed character in favor of convenience. Why? They clearly have character and know what it means. Roman Abramovich has started a landslide of public decency in Europe by making the Chelsea hotels open to medical professionals during the coronavirus pandemic.

Why has Chelsea in recent years become a place for the unprofessional, unhappy and ungrateful to pick up a lovely wage while living in London?

Why have Chelsea had Courtois where they once had Cech and Cudicini (a lot of goalkeepers with C in their names)? Why Morata where they once had Hasselbaink, Drogba and Zola?

What is it about the club that led to this collection of nefariously ungrateful and overrated players? I’ll preface my answer by pointing out that one of my favorite sides in Europe is Athletic Bilbao (Basque heritage aside).

Chelsea’s problem – and you know this if you’re a loyal reader – is a lack of a fundamental character and belief system.

That is why Chelsea need to be so careful about how they spend money when football starts up again.

At the moment the youth movement is a wonderful thing, although rather insubstantial. The play has been mediocre and not wildly effective for less than a full season. For every moment of brilliance there has been one of shocking failure. The two brightest youth lights in the whole academy have been injured or barely played this season, with, of course, the exception of Billy Gilmour, who hasn’t actually played very much either.

Chelsea need to find a direction and the time to do so is now. They have extra time to think and plan, and should use that to set a course for the next 20 years.  No more of this one year at a time planning. We don’t know what shape football will be in for the next year or even the next two or three, so why would you only think in those terms? Chelsea needed more time to fix the issues and now they have it. This year is discounted – Chelsea needed at least 2-3 years of new proper building anyway.

Chelsea spend too much time thinking about individual players rather than the foundation that lasts for the rest of time. To win the game on the field the Blues must understand the game beyond it. Chelsea will add players soon – they’ll have to – but they should make sure that those players fit in with the philosophy the club consciously develops.

They now have the time to do that. The rest of the world is doing the same thing. We all have no choice except to do just that. The way Chelsea use that time is what will come to define them in the newly shaped football.

Luckily, it appears Roman Abramovich has already shown them the right direction. Let us hope everyone else at Stamford Bridge follows suit.