Chelsea’s lack of veteran leadership problem

So far Chelsea has been busy signing new players that fit in new manager Enzo Maresca’s system, and the common theme that connects them is that they are all under 30. You’re probably wondering why does this matter and who cares? It matters because when you have a squad full of young and inexperienced players you have a leadership vacancy on the field. A vacancy that the manager himself cannot completely fix being on the sidelines. 

A prime example illustrating CFC’s youth, inexperience, and immaturity is that they broke the Premier League record for yellow cards receiving a staggering 105 last season. The one exception to the Blues' insistence on youth was 39-year-old Brazilian center-back Thiago Silva who is no longer with the club. With Silva now at Fluminense, the oldest player on the Chelsea squad is third-string goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli at 32 who is highly unlikely to see any game time this season. 

If you take Bettinelli out, the next person who would qualify would be Raheem Sterling who is 29. Last season the Blues had the second youngest team in the league with an average age of 24. A lack of discipline from the players, mixed with a very young squad, and an inexperienced manager doesn’t exactly scream “top four.” 

If Chelsea’s main objective is to get back to winning the Premier League and other trophies there is a blueprint for them to follow. Sky Sports obtained CFC’s checklist when they were looking for a new manager and these were the requirements: 

1. Must fit into club structure. 

2. Play possession-based football. 

3. Must be collegiate and collaborative.

4. Must be comfortable dealing with the media spotlight. 

5. Ready to go head to head with Guardiola and Arteta. 

All of that sounds good, but if Chelsea is so interested in competing with Guardiola and Arteta they should take a closer look at how their squads have been built. For example when you look at Manchester City, while there are a lot of young players like Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, and Phil Foden, that squad is mixed with experienced players like Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Kyle Walker. 

It’s led to Manchester City winning the Premier League six times in the last seven seasons, they did that with having a backbone of experienced players mixed with some good young players. Right now Chelsea has leaned more into having a backbone of very young players with some sprinkles of seasoned players. For the owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, what they need to understand is this business model that they are trying to sell to the fans is flawed, and their lack of communication with the fan base has been a problem. 

Arsenal has been on a long road to recovery, and in the last two years, they were so close to winning the EPL but fell short. While the Gunners don’t have as many players past 30, they do have a few that play, and they have more players at least older than 25. The biggest thing Boehly and Eghbali could learn from the Arsenal model is patience. In over two years of owning the club the Blues are now on their fourth permanent manager. If they believe in Maresca they can’t be surprised if they have another season where they fail to make the Champions League or maybe even the Europa League. 

That is because last year they overachieved finishing in sixth place, in a chaotic season, but still Chelsea decided to “part ways,” with Mauricio Pochettino. One could argue that CFC’s approach to signing so many young players on long-term contracts is a good way to build for the future and hopefully have a successful team for a long time. 

If the Blues have another season without any trophies, and no significant improvement, the unrest from the fans will only grow. Maybe if this were to happen the CFC sporting directors would consider signing more experienced players.