Tactics and Transfers: Escaping January and preparing for Chelsea’s future
Chelsea, at the moment, seems more interested in well-negotiated deals with everyone—both internal and external—rather than being the best football team on the planet. The deals for Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Rudiger should not take this long. Both are members of the squad who should not have questions about their futures. Ultimately, the certainty and confidence that both of their presences provide is worth more to the success of the side. Thus, the side’s ability to earn the additional revenue (£35,000 to 50,000 per week and a year or two of salary that is being squabbled over) hinges on their returns.
It’s a ridiculous amount of uncertainty to add to a squad for no reason. Rudiger is important. Not only for what he does on the field, but because of the character he is in the dressing room. You can look at comments and interviews from literally any of the youth players since his arrival and it will tell you that. Azpilcueta is the same. I don’t care if either one of them plays the last year of their contracts. They could both be injured for the entire last season and it would be worth it.
The fact that Azpilicueta, who is one of the most successful captains in the history of the club, is being hassled over another year on his contract is absurd. It’s crazy and it’s insulting, give it to him and move on. He’s worth his salary per year just for the way he teaches younger players about football and professionalism.
I have long suggested that the Blues are insulting in the way that they handle contracts. Service at the club isn’t taken into account. New signings always have the highest salaries. That Lukaku and Timo Werner both earn nearly double the salary of the captain of the club is insane. The fact that this is allowed to happen shows such a complete disregard for the sacrifices, time and effort that go into being a member of Chelsea in the long-term. It’s wild that the Blues are able to maintain even a semblance of control.
A simple rule to fix this would be that no incoming player can have the highest salary at the club. None. Period. It would force Chelsea to look at players differently. If the Blues are prepared to pay Werner £272,000 per week, they should be prepared to pay their captain £275,000. If they’re prepared to pay Lukaku £325,0000 per week, they should be prepared to pay N’Golo Kante £330,000. It would add a level of discipline, order and respect to the status of players within the club and as always, that’s the thing that Chelsea is lacking. It is the thing that stops the Blues from being a truly great club time and time again. Frankly, it’s getting boring.
Q: “Why won’t Chelsea move onto the next level as a club, brand, business and institution, despite being the only team in Europe’s third-largest city to succeed in the Champions League?”
A: “Oh, they’ll tear themselves apart for no reason other than attitude and entitlements.”
Super cool bro, super cool. “L’Episode de Lukaku” is an example of it. The pure, unhinged disrespect of that interview was insane. Truthfully, the issue at Chelsea remains the same, the culture. It’s a high-pressure environment with high standards but winning is really, secretly, actually, the second most important thing. What matters most is getting the best deal possible. Against our own players and against clubs in the transfer market. That’s not an issue that Manchester City has, which is why they’re so much better than us. That’s why the players know that they should act right, but if they’re expensive enough, they don’t actually have to do it.
To prepare for the future, the Blues really need to decide what matters.