As you will all know, I love to write a good opinion piece. But I also like to get different perspectives as well. And I often think it can be quite interesting to hear from those in the game who perhaps don’t support Chelsea to take away that emotional element that I always write with. Whether we end up agreeing with that outside view or not, I do think it’s important to have a read or hear about it as well.
In this instance, I am talking about a journalist who I respect, Ryan Taylor of The Daily Mirror, who has put out an interesting article today about Maresca, fan disconnect, and excessive spending by our owners.
‘Chelsea have two objectives this season, secure Champions League qualification and win the UEFA Conference League’, writes Taylor.
‘Should Enzo Maresca achieve both goals, his debut Stamford Bridge campaign can surely be considered a success However, tensions amongst the club’s disgruntled fanbase are now on a knife-edge following a series of underwhelming displays.
‘The home atmosphere has become notably flat at Stamford Bridge in recent months and the issue is becoming a real problem for Maresca as there is a clear disconnect between supporters and a team seemingly starved of imagination and expression.
‘While Maresca is certainly not immune from criticism, Chelsea have made steady progress under his reign and undeniably, there are limitations of working within the club’s current model given there is such a high turnover of players.
‘There can be no doubt Clearlake Capital’s excessive spending has proven hindering and it would be unfair to pass judgement on Maresca until he has a world-class goalkeeper, central defender and striker at his disposal.
‘Sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart will be tasked with overseeing an end-of-season fire-sale to help fund the arrivals of those key, marquee additions this summer.
‘Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Joao Felix, Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Armando Broja, Carney Chukwuemeka, Renato Veiga and David Datro Fofana are among those that could depart. Interest in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Benoit Badiashile would also give Chelsea something to think about.
‘But it would also be naive for anyone to expect a drastic shift in strategy from Clearlake any time soon as the recent double capture of highly-rated Sporting CP duo Geovany Quenda and Dario Essugo epitomises their desire to continue building for the future – rather than prioritising the present.’
I think he’s made a lot of good points here and it mirrors what many of us have been saying.
It’s so hard to keep such a big squad of players who expect and want to be playing week in week out happy. I said that from day one.
There is the aspect too that this is Chelsea and you must expect big competition. I also agree with that.
But the stockpiling of youth players will become a bigger and bigger problem the more of them we sign, mark my words, especially amongst the academy lads. Everything we have predicted so far with all that has happened has basically come true. We could all foresee the issues.
Maresca has such a task on his hands to convince fans about his style of play, and many fans are already lost causes on this.
I have said I am open to him convincing me about his style of play, and for me if we are getting results then that is all that would matter essentially. But it’s tough because we also want to be entertained. Will Maresca soon be entertaining us again? Time will tell. But I am absolutely willing this to happen. I don’t want more manager changes and the issues for me will always be with the squad build first and foremost – that is where we have gone wrong, at least for the present and near future, even if it does end up paying off in a few more years.
