2023-12-29 16:43:54
At Chelsea FC, few things come together the way they were once intended.
Instead of playing for the Champions League places or even the championship, the Stamford Bridge club is bobbing around in the middle of the table, somewhere between Brighton and Wolverhampton, with enough distance to the relegation places, but also enough distance upwards to not be up I came up with the idea that there might be something to do with international business.
Expressed in clear numbers, that means: seven wins, eight defeats, four draws – a miserable tenth place after 19 match days.
Chelsea in insignificance?
It doesn’t help much if there’s a win every now and then, as happened on Wednesday evening when the Blues won 2-1 against Crystal Palace after a tough fight – but the reality remains the same: Chelsea have arrived at mediocrity.
But what led to this descent into insignificance? Coach Mauricio Pochettino took over in the summer with high ambitions and equally high promises. The tenor at the time: It’ll be fine again, don’t worry, there won’t be a twelfth place like in the previous season again.
The 51-year-old even emphasized that Chelsea were “the best English team of the last ten or twelve years”. What had already caused some irritation in the summer is even more so now, especially since there is hardly anything to be seen of this so-called “best team”.
Pochettino in youth madness?
Admittedly, Pochettino asked for time, not just once, he wanted to build a new team, with young, especially inexperienced players. Ergo: That just takes time.
The only question is how much time he actually has – or how much time he still has left. Since the American entrepreneur Todd Boehly came to power in London’s noble district, the wind has become even sharper – and more importantly: even more money has flowed.
In purely factual terms this means: Since the summer of 2022, the Blues have spent more than a billion euros on new players. Even if Boehly is not responsible for all of these transfers and some stars were sold for good money, the burden of this gigantic sum is still heavy – too heavy for the entire club?
Nkunku oldest Chelsea player
At least it is clear that Pochettino does not want to abandon his route. Against Crystal Palace, the Argentine fielded the youngest starting eleven in the Premier League since May 2017. At that time, the Manchester United team had an average age of 22 years and 284 days. On Wednesday evening, the average at Chelsea was just slightly higher (23 years and 21 days).
Oldest Blues star in the starting line-up on Wednesday evening in London: the recovered Christopher Nkunku (26 years old), who was recently considered a youngster himself. He is now said to be one of those leading the young troupe of early maturers on the front line. Can this work well?
Pochettino: “Until I die”
At least it can’t get much worse. Coach Pochettino’s team always shows hopeful approaches, including in the spectacular 4-4 draw against Manchester City in November, when Chelsea never gave up and even sniffed victory.
“Hopefully I can stay here until I die!” 20 or 25 years, but you never know in football,” Pochettino had said a few days before. In order for it to really be enough for an era, we need more games like the one against City – whether with no players or youth madness.
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