On May 6th, Sky Sports chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol discussed the current situation of Chelsea.
The following is the content of the reporter’s column
Carragher branded Chelsea "a broken club" following Monday's Premier League defeat at Nottingham Forest.
Chelsea were thrown into chaos after Enzo Maresca was allowed to leave the club on New Year's Eve. They appointed Rossinier, who has no Premier League coaching qualifications, as head coach. This was a move that required great risk, but the result did not meet the success criteria. Afterwards, they took another major risk and asked MacFarlane to serve as interim head coach, but he also lacked coaching experience, let alone coaching experience in the Premier League.
Since the beginning of February, Chelsea has been in terrible shape, ranking last in the Premier League's recent form, and scoring fewer points than Tottenham during the same period. During that period, Chelsea won two games and drew two games in the Premier League. Since the beginning of February, the only opponents it has defeated in the Premier League are Wolves and Aston Villa, which have been relegated. Overall, Chelsea has lost 13 games in the Premier League this season, more than newly promoted Leeds United and Sunderland.
You could argue it's the players' fault, however, watching Chelsea's games every week, it seems the players haven't yet come to terms with the fact that Maresca has left the club. Maresca had led them to the Champions League and won two trophies in his first season, but something happened behind the scenes. He had personal problems with other members of the club, many fell out with each other, and the situation got so bad that he decided to leave.
At the time, I thought Chelsea were happy to see him go, but looking back now, it was a huge mistake to let him go, because he was really starting to build something and the players had faith in him. As far as these current players and current managers are concerned, beating Manchester City and Guardiola in the FA Cup final is a very high standard of expectation. Things beyond Weird have already happened…but this Chelsea team is in a trough.
I think one of the problems is that they won the Club World Cup. Based on this, they might think, "We've succeeded. Everything we've done, the policies we've pursued have proven to be right. We've shown everyone that they were wrong." Then they continued on the same path. When it comes to Maresca, I think they view him as just a manager and say, "If he wants to leave, let him. If he thinks he can get a job at Manchester City, that's fine. He can go and seek a job at Manchester City in the summer, if that position becomes available." There is a very good organizational structure, it is just a matter of finding another head coach. "Sadly, they made a mistake in selecting their successor.
I think if you have the right person for the head coaching position, it's not impossible to change this situation. I still think a big-name manager would be happy to coach Chelsea, and they will be able to attract the type of manager they need this summer. Iraura is a possibility, but there are a number of other clubs chasing him. Xavi Alonso would be a pretty good fit. The likes of Cesc Fabregas have been widely discussed, but poaching him away from Como would be difficult and would be another risk.
Chelsea have to look for someone with Premier League experience, someone who can control the dressing room, someone who can say "I have the final say" to the sporting director and owner. Especially if you buy a group of leaders this summer, a group of experienced players, why not bring in players like Jordan Henderson to serve as coach? He has outstanding leadership skills. He doesn't have to play every week, but his standards and work ethic on and off the field, his presence changes the dynamic behind the scenes. Chelsea still have a pretty good squad with some world-class players, but they lack a new coach and need some leadership figures on the field.
My thought is that their transfer strategy, which is to sign young players on long-term contracts, will change this summer and they will make adjustments to sign players with more experience.
Chelsea fans furious over De Zerbi's VIP treatment
Tottenham boss De Zerby was spotted at Chelsea's game against Forest on Monday and spoke to senior members of the club. On social media, Chelsea fans expressed their displeasure. They saw the situation as another sign of trouble at the club. De Zerbi was able to come to Stamford Bridge to watch the Chelsea game because Tottenham would soon face Chelsea in an important game, but it felt like the club had rolled out a red carpet for him.
Normally, you would give him a ticket to the directors' box, but it looks like he was placed in a certain boss's box or the box next door. This is super high-level VIP treatment for Chelsea. Chelsea fans were also unhappy that their two sporting directors were in a position where they could be filmed and photographed while speaking to De Zerbi. At first glance, there's nothing wrong with chatting to someone you've worked with at Brighton, but in the current environment, it doesn't seem right. Fans seized on this and asked: "What happened to our club?". What's wrong, why do we treat the head coach of our biggest competitor, who will be playing next week, as a VIP guest and roll out the red carpet?
Everyone is kicking Chelsea when they are at a low point and their fans are dissatisfied. Now is the perfect time to attack Chelsea. I fully understand that. However, I still dare to say that if they hire the right coach, if they make a few smart and experienced signings and bring in people with personality, character and leadership, then I think Chelsea will soon be able to return to the original situation and things will improve quickly.