Tactics and Transfers: The return and the resurgence at Chelsea

Chelsea FC and the new ownership group have managed to capture the imagination of not only the Blues supporters who were beleaguered by last season’s dramatics, but also all of the naysayers in the media. That’s an excellent sign. It’s bad when all the talking heads in the media magically love you. Unless you’re Liverpool, then that’s just business as usual. For Chelsea, there has been simply too much affection in recent years. Long-tenured supporters know that’s a bad thing. It means that London’s least favorite table turners and perhaps Europe’s least-favorite old and established order supplanters aren’t threatening anyone. It means that the Blues are viewed as cute and non-threatening, and that should make you sick.

Think of the difference between Jose Mourinho’s “Park the Bus” Blues and then his “Little Horse” Blues. One set the best defensive record in the league history and lost only one game all year. It was a truly dominant side for a two-year period before it all fell apart. The other scraped into Europe and people thought they were adorable. That is, until they added the fearsome and hated Diego Costa and became a team that won the league and everyone hated once again. Think about Antonio Conte’s first year and then his second when he went from an overly passionate and too pragmatic genius of a coach to his second year when people felt he just deserved to be treated fairly and he was going to be so dearly missed.

That is how people speak of Thomas Tuchel’s current Chelsea side. Suddenly, where Tuchel was a happy-go-lucky and sweet man a year or so ago, people feel he is overly aggressive and too intense without a view toward coaching the youth. Say nothing of the fact that he refused to let Armando Broja and Conor Gallagher leave and that he is playing Ruben Loftus-Cheek in yet another new and well-thought-out way. It is almost as if people seem to forget that he relies heavily on Mason Mount, Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah, and last season, the manager gave them a total of 123 combined appearances (even with James’ injury).

The fact that so many people are commenting on the Blues means that they’re looking over their shoulders again. That’s good. Todd Boehly and his team have done a good job thus far. Chelsea needed a lot of new blood and new faces and it prioritized that over outgoings, which was a smart move. The most important product is the one on the field. If that is working and moving in the right direction then it provides a lot of things, but most importantly, what it provides is time. Suddenly, the Blues will have time to negotiate real deals for outgoings, they’ll be able to build in a chosen and proactive method.

Todd Boehly has kicked off the Chelsea resurgence over the summer

What Chelsea has done thus far is raise the general level of the squad and remembered its identity. When the Blues are good, their squad is deep and their defense is fearsome. I have hated watching Chelsea try to be Barcelona and Real Madrid for years. What’s wrong with our blue? Nothing. The Blues’ identity has always been good enough. Perhaps having an owner who became a fan while in school in London as a young and idealistic man was necessary to remember that.

Having Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella at left wingback with a starting centerback group of Cesar Azpilicueta, Kalidou Koulibaly and Thiago Silva, Chelsea have the best starting defense in Europe. There’s not one player in the central defense trio who any non-fool would argue is anything other than a legend of the game. The fact that the best player of all of them, Reece James, hasn’t been mentioned until now speaks to my point.

Depth is one of the most important things that a team can have over the arduous distance of a season. Last season should have served as a reminder of that as Chelsea—at one point—was the most dominant team in Europe. When Chilwell and James were fully healthy, they punished Juventus 4-0. It even looked like it should have been about 7-0 in the first half while being top of the Premier League at the time. When both players were injured, everything changed.

Ultimately, the Blues have also made the smart move of doing away with the over-30 rule that the Roman Abramovich regime adopted in its later and more price-conscious years. That was a rule that Arsenal publicly admitted to in the ’80s and ’90s, and the Gunners haven’t been the same team since. It entirely negates the obvious advances in sporting and medical sciences that are extending careers like never before. It was dumb and limiting, moving away from it was smart.

The Boehly group has made the incredibly intelligent addition of Koulibaly. The club spent so many years struggling with character and commitment. Thus, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that leadership was an issue given the lack of respect with which the Blues treated players whose age offered those very characteristics. By adding Koulibaly and re-signing the club captain—in addition to housing Brazil captain Silva and multiple-time Premier League winning forward Raheem Sterling—Chelsea has ensured that the club will remain high on character for the foreseeable future. Given the amount of young talent the club has added, this should be considered doubly important. The dividends of that leadership will be the seeds of intellectual prosperity they will each plant into the next generation.

That brings me to the next great piece of management that Chelsea has done this summer. The Blues have made many under-the-radar additions, as well as show-stopping moves. Eddie Beach, Carney Chukwuemeka, Tyler Dibling, Omari Hutchinson, Gabriel Slonina and Zak Sturge are astute and well-thought-out additions. Chelsea is simultaneously building for this season, as well as 2027, and that is good to see.

It is hard in football to have an eye on the present and the future at the same time. Actually, it’s nearly impossible. The future will always matter. Yet, it’s equally inexcusable and perhaps simply unrealistic—given the stakes both emotional and financial—that every single match with 20 players earning over £100,000 per week to sacrifice the importance of what is happening right now for the possibility of what could potentially be at some point in the unknown future. That is why it is so hard to manage a football club and do it successfully for so long. Look at Manchester United under the Glazers. It’s irrelevant. It’s actually a shame, if we’re being completely honest. What

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When I was just a kid, Man United was a thing to marvel at for millions. When the Red Devils came to town, it was almost cool. “United is here,” you’d think. Sir Alex Ferguson was asked to speak at Harvard Business School. David Gil ran the Premier League on the side. JP McManus and John Magnier were genius’ in gambling and horse racing, as well. Now, look at Man United. Not one major outlet chose the Red Devils to win the title this year. Most bookmakers have Tottenham as more likely by the odds to win the title. A side who Sir Alex once motivated by saying simply “lads it’s Tottenham” before overturning a deficit in that match are now considered better.

The point I am making is that the end is always closer than you think. You hasten it by forgetting that, nothing is given. It’s much easier to fall from grace in football than anyone might believe. The only win that matters is the next one and whether or not you want to believe it, that’s true in life. It takes a lifetime to build a legacy and a single second to ruin it. History counts for nothing if you lose tomorrow.

Chelsea’s new owners have shown a keen knowledge of that point and they have moved aggressively because that is what was necessary. The end of the Abramovich era and the unfair sanctions from the government had the sharks circling. Manchester City is stronger than last season, Liverpool is stronger than last season, Arsenal and Tottenham are too. West Ham is, as well, and it would be easy to forget how close the Hammers ran the Blues last season on multiple occasions. Chelsea was only five points from missing out on the Champions League. If the Blues had missed out, how would we have viewed the year?

All of the other clubs beneath them were closer than we want to remember. It would be easy to forget those facts and rest on our laurels. Chelsea is very obviously not doing that and other than that, there are reasons to hope, as well.

Good additions to the team in a year where a couple of our competitors are distracted by their own legacies. Pep Guardiola will likely do whatever is necessary to succeed in Europe, even if it means sacrificing the league. Jurgen Klopp’s team is aging. As always, the Reds are toeing the dangerous line between artistry and madness that an injury, a referee or a moment of genius could tip them past.

It’s also the first normal season Tuchel will have. He’s not taking over halfway through a year from a legend or being sanctioned unfairly by a government trying to prove a point that historically has never worked. Tuchel can finally just manage a football side and Chelsea can finally just play football. It will take a period of time for the Blues to bed in the new signings. That will happen as it always happens and that’s all there is to it.

That said, my prediction is this: come the dog days of winter, even more so by the complications and distractions of the World Cup this winter, Chelsea’s depth (specifically the youth players) will make a difference and define the rest of its season. The Blues’ new owners are setting the right tone and building for the future while remembering that nobody cares about what you will do or have done. The only thing that matters is what you do right now and right now, they’re doing exactly what is necessary to succeed.

I know it has been a while, my readers and friends. I needed the time but we’re back and so am I. It has been too long, thank you for having me.