Spiritual people will tell you that to curb anxious thoughts, you should never focus on the past or future. Only by living in the present moment can you keep your mind clear of the nasty mind worms that become anxiety. Anyone who says that probably didn’t watch a Chelsea Football Club match during the 2022/23 season.
All campaign, focusing on the present has been an exercise in frustration and disappointment. In fact, the only thing keeping a lot of fans calm is the prospect that surely next season has to be better. (Or perhaps just not as bad.)
And with caretaker manager Frank Lampard at the helm, it’s actually kind of pointless to focus on the present. He’s gone in a few weeks anyway.
So, here are three things the club needs to do between now and the end of the season—a span of seven games—to prepare for next season and make living in the present moment fun again.
1. Chelsea must Stay healthy
Despite this season’s Premier League standings and gloomy vibes, the club has real, valid reasons to be optimistic about next year. It’s a squad loaded with raw talent. The new owners appear willing to invest more money in that talent pool if necessary—meaning a new striker (besides Christopher Nkunku) or goalkeeper could easily be a summer signing. There’s also a new hierarchy at the top of the club that will only become more efficient and effective each day (right?).
However, an errant ACL injury or hamstring tear by one of our core players could cast more gloom over the one thing keeping many Chelsea fans hopes alive. And that is a better 2023/24 season.
That’s not to say we should sit oft-injured players like Ben Chilwell, Reece James, or Wesley Fofana. But we need to be careful. Load management needs to be priority number one for this club so we can hit the ground running again next season.
2. Take a look at next year’s crop of talent
The phrase “bloated quad” has become synonymous with Chelsea Football Club since January, when the team brought in eight new signings and failed to let go of anyone, including Hakim Ziyech, who apparently took a personal flight to Paris to sign with PSG only for his transfer to fall apart in the final hours of the window.
In the final seven games, we need to start getting honest with ourselves about how to remove some of these players. Yes, it’s going to sting. Some people’s favorite players are going to leave the club. But we need to decide who’s a part of this project—and build value for players who may not have seen the field in some time that we’re considering selling.
This goes for academy players (Lewis Hall), fringe players (Ruben-Loftus Cheek), and established regulars (Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher).
Sadly, Armando Broja won’t be back in time from his December knee injury, as it would be nice to see him thrive so we can confirm the ever-sulking Romelu Lukaku’s services absolutely won’t be needed at the club next season.
3. Hire a new coach
Fabrizio Romano tweeted this morning that Julian Nagelsmann has pulled out of the race. This makes it seem plausible that the new Chelsea coach will be, in all likelihood, Mauricio Pochettino.
"EXCLUSIVE: Julian Nagelsmann has now withdrawn from the race to become the new Chelsea head coach — it looks like it’s his final decision. 🚨🔵 #CFC German coach is said to be no longer available after multiple round of talks. Nagelsmann was top candidate for the job."
Who knows, maybe things will change. However you feel about Poch, you should feel good about the fact that the next era is soon to be underway at Chelsea.
The sooner the better, in my opinion. The new coach needs to be in the stands. He needs to feel the hopelessness around the club and the deep pessimism that seems to imbue the players and fans as each game wears on.
He needs to see our attack—how truly harmless and ineffective it is, no matter who we start up top. Because truly, and I say this as a longtime fan of Chelsea Football Club, it’s pretty hard to believe unless you’ve seen it in person: the club is not only in transition, it’s in trouble.
The issues in attack run deeper than a lack of a true number nine. Body language has been an issue lately in several key players in the squad. The players know they can do better. Unfortunately, it seems like some of them have stopped trying.
It’s one thing to know a new coach is coming. It’s another to know who the new coach is and to know he’s in the stands watching your performance and making decisions about your future.