Chelsea: Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor will the Blues’ dynasty be

After the latest Premier League loss, Chelsea fans need to take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture for once.

It’s me, your friendly neighborhood Site Expert from The Pride of London, once again preaching the fact that patience is a virtue. Chelsea suffered another setback at Molineux on Tuesday, dropping points in the dying moments against Wolves. The Blues have now suffered back-to-back defeats in the Premier League, so naturally the ‘#LampardOut’ losers have come out of their holes. Therefore, it feels like an important time to remind everybody that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Although the cliche is old as hell, the meaning behind it still rings true.

The last two losses on the schedule have been as frustrating as any over the last few seasons. Everton and Wolves have made Chelsea look pedestrian once again, something no club before them achieved for almost three calendar months. Whatever the reason may be—whether you believe it’s due to injuries, fatigue or mismanagement—the fact of the matter is the matches are done and dusted. Hindsight is 20/20, so it’s important to look towards the future. The Blues are building something unique, and although many of us want to pull our hair out with every bump in the road, we need to keep level heads. Chelsea is on its way to building the first English dynasty since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the ’90s and 2000s.

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Chelsea can drop down to 8th in the English top flight this weekend, which sounds awful when given no context. The Blues will be—at max—six points off the Premier League leaders with games against a few of the country’s biggest sides coming up in the next few weeks. They’re also into the Round of 16 of the Champions League and have just three losses across the two competitions this year. Now that we’ve set the scene and have gotten rid of the ‘Frank is failing’ narrative, let’s dive into the long-term plans.

While the results may be frustrating to Blues faithful at the moment, it’ll all be worth it in the end. Every team drops points in a 38-match football season, that’s just the name of the game. Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ are widely regarded as one of the greatest team in English history, and even they dropped 24 points in a single campaign. Chelsea supporters are incredibly short-sighted—myself included sometimes, nobody is excluded from this observation—but it’s time to take a peak into the club’s future. The Blues may not be atop the table at the moment, they will be soon though.

Chelsea is looking like the big six club poised for the most eventual success. Frank Lampard is building a team of young phenoms and commanding day-to-day operations like the serial winner he is. The Blues have a plethora of players under the age of 25 in Reece James (21), Andreas Christensen (24), Fikayo Tomori (22), Ben Chilwell (23), Billy Gilmour (19), Mason Mount (21), Kai Havertz (21), Christian Pulisic (22), Tammy Abraham (23), Timo Werner (24) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (20). Just missing the cut at the age of 26: Kurt Zouma, Mateo Kovacic and Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Chelsea is remaining competitive in the present because that’s the type of club it is, but the Blues have also got their eyes on prizes down the road, which is something other teams can’t necessarily say for themselves.

Starting at the top of the table, Jose Mourinho’s Spurs will enjoy short-term success. The simple fact of the matter is, the Special One is a ticking time bomb. There will be an implosion that eventually leads to the downfall of Daniel Levy’s beloved Spurs; the question is whether or not they’ll win anything before that happens. Regardless, all of Tottenham’s chips are in for this season’s title push. Important players like Hugo Lloris, Toby Alderweireld, Matt Doherty and Gareth Bale aren’t getting any younger. Meanwhile, Sergio Reguilon’s stint at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is nothing but a glorified loan. The point of all of this is: Tottenham poses no realistic threat beyond the next two or three seasons without another year of rebuilding beforehand.

Moving on to the reigning Premier League champion Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp is up for an abundance of awards this season for his triumph in the Champions League two seasons ago and ability to bring the league title back to Anfield for the first time in three decades last year. He took over the club in 2015 and began achieving major success in 2019. The Reds manager made a few splash moves in the transfer market over the years in Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Alisson, Naby Keita and the list goes on. However, it never felt as if he was under the microscope by supporters as much as Lampard is currently. Klopp is the perfect example of what a manager like Lampard can do if properly backed. Overall, the German has been successful as the gaffer at Anfield—winning a Premier League title and Europe’s most prestigious club honor—as painful as it is to admit.

Another example of an English giant that took a bit of time to develop is Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. The Spaniard’s side was easily dispatched by Antonio Conte’s Blues during both managers’ first seasons in charge of their respective clubs, despite Man City spending a lot of money in the market. The Citizens enjoyed two seasons atop the first division before becoming runners-up last year. Man City is still a title contender, but not the title favorite. This goes to show that without proper planning, things could all fall apart in a matter of months. Man City is trending downward and has been since winning its first title under Guardiola.

The same goes for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s project at Manchester United and Mikel Arteta’s at Arsenal. It’s only a matter of time before both managers get the sack. Each team has its own respective stars, but behind the scenes, things are a mess. There’s no telling what the future holds for either of these big six sides—although United is capable of winning some silverware in the recent future—but Chelsea is sitting pretty compared to its rivals’ inevitable train wrecks.

Why does all of this matter though? It puts things into perspective. Blues supporters are acting like the club’s foundations are crumbling after a series of defeats. Chelsea went nearly three months unbeaten, but as soon as it loses two contests in three days, many are ready to throw in the towel and show Lampard the door. That is no way to run—or support—a club, as frustrating and concerning as these latest round of results have been. If losing a handful of games is the biggest problem a club faces, it’s doing a wonderful job preparing for what’s to come.

Losses like the ones at Wolves and Everton are nothing more than growing pains. They may ruin your mood, or even your entire day, but try to take a look at the bigger picture. Something special is being constructed at Chelsea and if I were you, I’d hop on board before it’s too late.