The long term effects of Chelsea’s leaders and the rest of the dirty dozen trying to kill the sport will take some time to sort through. The short term effects, however, are already starting to appear. The Super League is becoming a big pep talk for clubs. That is going to cut both ways against Chelsea in the upcoming West Ham and Real Madrid matches.
Let’s mark the beginning of the Super League rumors at Manchester United versus Burnley. From that moment to the time of writing of this article, Super League teams versus non Super League teams have had a combined record of five wins, five draws, and one loss. That isn’t terrible, but it sure isn’t super.
Jurgen Klopp made note of this as, somewhere in his rambling, he found the excuse he was looking for to explain why his team didn’t win. He landed on the shirts Leeds United wore in warm up that said “Earn it”.
The indication is that teams outside the Super League are going to be more motivated to make the dirty dozen earn it. Chelsea was one of the teams on the end of dropped points when they played Brighton. West Ham United is up next and they will be even more motivated.
Make no mistake; this is a top four six pointer. West Ham are where they are completely on merit, which was one of the main things the Super League spat in the face of. West Ham will be motivated to show Chelsea what that means and that is an aside from the two being London rivals. David Moyes pep talk will be simple. “They are telling you that you can’t earn it, prove them wrong”. Thomas Tuchel will have a difficult task to motivate his team to stop West Ham, arguably even more difficult than preparing for Manchester City last weekend.
Of course, there is a way that this can work to Chelsea’s advantage too. Chelsea plays Real Madrid after West Ham, and suddenly a narrative packed fixture is going to be dominated by the Super League story.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was the leader of the Super League. Even yesterday, he was going on the radio to decry the clubs that left and explain that it is still a work in progress. Chelsea, being the first club to be rumored to withdraw, will have been the team to kill it.
But Perez didn’t stop there. The Chelsea fans outside of Stamford Bridge Tuesday evening saw their voices heard. Maybe Chelsea was already withdrawing before those protests, maybe not, but it is impossible to say the protests were not a tipping point in this saga. Perez, the brains behind the Super League, stated that there were “40 people outside of Stamford Bridge” and he knew “who took them there”.
So, first of all it should come as no surprise that the man who thought Super League was a good idea that would “save the sport” is bad at math. Secondly, to suggest that the Chelsea fans weren’t authentic, that they were paid actors or whatever he is suggesting, is some next level totalitarian stuff. It’s gaslighting, trying to make believe that what the world saw with their own eyes was a lie or a falsehood.
That has to be a motivator for the Chelsea players. Here is the man who tried to kill the game. He is telling you that your fans aren’t real. That has to be Tuchel’s pep talk. To show Real Madrid that, mighty as they may be, Chelsea is made of something different. Maybe the club’s leaders messed up, but they also listened and now it is time for the players to speak on the pitch.
West Ham might have been made far trickier because of the Super League. But Real Madrid? Their players aren’t at fault, but what better way to knock Perez off his perch. Chelsea fans saved the game. Now the squad can go make a point about it. “Earn it” counts for Chelsea, Real Madrid, West Ham and the rest all the same.