Where Todd Boehly went wrong in Chelsea nightmare
By Karan Saini
Bloated squad size
A scattergun approach to signing players was a poor strategy. The West Londoners signed multiple players for the same positions and Thiago Silva mentioned the bloated squad size in an interview with beIN Sports, and how it posed a challenge to the manager and the players.
"“The club is going through a tough patch, it was all a bit vague at the beginning, then there was a change of ownership, many players came in. We even had to extend the dressing room as it wasn’t big enough for all the players. A positive is that we’ve got great players in the squad. On the flip side, someone is always going to be annoyed or feel down because not everyone can play. The coach can only pick 11 players yet there are 30-odd here. That’s an issue”."
New signings Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, David Datro Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Benoit Badiashile struggled to get minutes and settle into the team. Too many options became a cause of concern for CFC causing selection issues and player dissatisfaction. No one could come up with a solid starting XI for the Blues.
Boehly and his team could learn from the recent takeover of Newcastle United. The Magpies saw a change in ownership in October 2021 and it has been handled very strategically. NUFC signed players that were integral to their plans and were not breakout signings. Eddie Howe guided the club to an 11th-place finish after a run of 12 wins in their final 18 games, and Newcastle became the first team in Premier League history to avoid relegation after failing to win any of their first 14 games.
NUFC secured a UEFA Champions League spot for the first time since 2002/03 as they finished 4th in the league. All signings were part of a plan and played a crucial part in the campaign. The Magpies spent €180m on five players that highlighted the importance of thoughtful planning and targeted signings as opposed to Chelsea’s approach of signing 17 players.
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Todd Boehly’s first season at Stamford Bridge can be a great learning curve as there are multiple fronts the club can improve on. The Blues have been very active in the offseason shipping out players like Kai Havertz and many many others on the way. Trimming down the squad size is the first step in the right direction, the next step would be taking inputs from Mauricio Pochettino in transfers for a more cohesive approach.