On May 5, Hupu News, The Athletic UK’s Chelsea and team reporter team wrote a crisis column.
Gossip board
TA: Chelsea will introduce players with top five/multi-line experience this summer, but they will not represent veterans.
Injury History/How to Get Palmer Back to the Top
This season, Chelsea has encountered many injuries to key players. Part of the reason is bad luck, and part of the reason is related to the sharp shortening of pre-season preparation time after winning the Club World Cup. However, if the club's senior management does not think about how to let the medical and fitness departments improve this situation next season, it would be a serious dereliction of duty.
It is said that the physical condition of this team is not ideal. Although the running data cannot completely measure the efforts of a team, for Chelsea, in all Premier League matches this season, its running distance has lagged behind its opponents. This is a bad data that the club does not want to continue next season.
Palmer's situation is the epitome of those two questions. Is it a wise move for Palmer to participate in this summer's World Cup? Neither he nor England coach Thomas Tuchel wants to face this issue, but considering his poor performance this season, this issue has to be mentioned.
For Palmer, the 2024 European Cup is overall positive. Under the leadership of Gareth Southgate, his playing time was not as expected or not as high as he deserved. However, in the final against Spain, he came on as a substitute and scored a wonderful goal, which greatly increased his value. If the World Cup can give him a similar opportunity again, maybe he can change people's perception of him and change the external evaluation in a better direction.
However, the exhaustion brought about by the Club World Cup last summer left Palmer in a state of extreme exhaustion, both physically and mentally. At that time, he revealed how much he was looking forward to getting enough rest after the game, but in the end he found that the rest was too short to bear. Moreover, he also made it clear that he has been suffering from a groin injury for most of this season.
This is a physical issue, but there is also a stylistic issue: Chelsea's shift towards a slower, more measured, possession-oriented style of play has seen Palmer's individual statistics drop significantly. There is no trace of the improvisational flair he so often displayed when he first emerged under Mauricio Pochettino.
Let Chelsea's next head coach find a way for him to regain this talent. However, to achieve this, Palmer's physical condition must also return to the best condition.
Let fans regain their confidence in the club and support the club again
Perhaps this is the most difficult task. Because the current relationship between the two parties is extremely bad. For months, fans have shouted slogans against the club's owners at every game. There have been two protests outside Stamford Bridge, the second of which (last month) was attended by far more people than the first in January. More protests are also planned for the FA Cup final and the final home game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur.
When the game is played at home, the atmosphere is extremely bad, but it is quite easy for the visiting team to find scoring opportunities here. In the 2025-2026 season, Chelsea lost seven games at home. This is by no means without reason-in the Premier League, only the bottom four teams have experienced more home losses than Chelsea.
As with all other numerous clubs before them, improved results and performance will play a crucial role in regaining the support of the fan base. However, the reasons behind this are far from limited to this.
Although the club has formed a fan advisory committee, fans still complain that the distance between them and the club is deepening. The price of tickets and the difficulty of purchasing tickets are a real source of anxiety for fans.
The lack of a long-term front-of-shirt sponsor and the lack of any news on whether the club will rebuild Stamford Bridge or build a new stadium have further heightened fan dissatisfaction with the way the club is run.
Convince players to believe in the project
In recent months, some of Chelsea's most crucial players have begun to question the future development of the BlueCo project. The club may say captains Reece James and Moises Caicedo have signed new long-term deals at Stamford Bridge, but Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella have made it clear they don't entirely share that view.
Much of the progress and rising momentum the team had shown before was due to Maresca's first season at Chelsea. Later, the Italian coach left in January, and BlueCo made the wrong decision to hire Rossinier to replace him, which completely shattered the positive atmosphere. In order to rebuild Chelsea, it is crucial to select the next head coach.
Fernandez, Cucurella and other players may be satisfied with a salary increase and a more stable contract in the short term. However, if Chelsea continues to sink deeply into the middle of the Premier League and cannot qualify for the Champions League, then this satisfaction will eventually end. When many players arrived at Stamford Bridge, they were given great expectations, hoping to join the most ambitious project in world football.
They fully expect to receive a salary that matches their own value, and at the same time they are full of desire to compete for and win the most critical trophy. If they are completely desperate to achieve these goals at Chelsea, the reality of football is that they and their agents will rack their brains to send them to other clubs that can suit their professional goals.
Get a big name from Chelsea to join the coaching staff or within the club
Perhaps one of the reasons why Chelsea's standards have declined is that those who established Chelsea's high standards in the past are no longer in the first team. Former captain John Terry is currently serving as a part-time mentor in the youth academy, which is just a punctuation mark.
Given the number of Chelsea regulars who have won the title over the past 30 years, it is puzzling that the club has not invited them to join the coaching staff, or at least be involved in some matters related to it.
For the players, the guidance they provide is of great help, and for the fans, it allows them to find someone they can identify with.
Obviously, Terry, who has been controversial for many years, is unlikely to be promoted. After Maresca and Rossini left, the club had two opportunities, but they both missed them. However, the club has other options.
One example is Thiago Silva. The former Brazil international won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021. However, at that time, he was watching the team's loss to Nottingham Forest in the stands. Photos show that he was extremely concerned about the team's progress.
What is particularly worth mentioning is that he has just won the league championship with Porto at the age of 41, but his career as a player will eventually come to an end. Current first-team players James and Colwell have both praised Silva's great impact on them during his time at Chelsea. His son Isago is currently in the Chelsea youth training camp and is developing well. From this, it can be seen that the relationship between him and Chelsea is still quite close.
Why not consider offering him a position?