Chelsea have a little break between fixtures now, and we can look back and stake stock of the season so far.
Looking at the top rated players of the season on WhoScored tells its own story. Number one is Benoit Badiashile, who has just two starts and is a January signing.
Then comes Kepa Arrizabalaga. Most fans would certainly agree that he’s had a good spell relative to his whole time at the club, and it’s easy to forget that we had a really nice run of results in the Autumn before the World Cup, but the fact he’s number two shows how much others have struggled. He’s had some awful moments too.
Then come two injured players – N’Golo Kante and Reece James. Both are among the world’s best when they’re fit… but they’re never fit.
Finally is the stalwart defender Thiago Silva, as always putting in quality game after quality game.
Doesn’t that list just sum up 2022/2023 so far? A dodgy goalkeeper, a new January signing, two injured stars and Thiago Silva.
No player has really had a greatbseason to date with the one and only being Silva. Let’s be honest no one has been great. But again we also need direction and an experienced head driving us forward which sadly I do not see.
We are buying everything and anything that can kick a ball without any real experience of our league. Feel like we are repeating previous mistakes when we were initially purchased.
Not sure what options we have if we don’t look outside the Premier League to improve the team. Our rivals are always going to be reluctant to sell to us. So what’s the alternative?
As for comparisons to the last ownership, the test will come over the next 12-18 months as to whether they continue to support Potter’s project or whether they begin a new era of perpetual managerial turmoil. Despite the 100s of millions the club sunk into transfers under Abramovich, it’s hard to argue that the money was well “invested” or that it generated the “returns” it should have, as the constant churn of managers (8 in just the last 10 years!) created major disruptions and waste. While we brought a good many trophies, we fell well short of generating the dynasty that we might have expected from all that money. Take, for example, some of our most high profile gaffes. Why buy young talent like DeBruyne and Salah for a manager reluctant to give youth a chance to play/develop? Why buy Lukaku three managers too late? (Conte wanted him, Tuchel—who didn’t—got him.) In retrospect, these moves are at once laughable and sad. We all agree the current squad needs an overhaul and the main reason is that it’s a motley crew of pieces accumulated under nearly half a dozen different manager’s. It’s no wonder they are struggling for coherence on the field because the processes that brought them together totally lacked coherence or continuity!
That’s why, more than anything else, after this initial buying spree to stock the cupboard, I hope the new ownership will remain committed to a slow, steady, and (above all) STABLE re-build process. Hopefully supporters will also have the patience to weather the inevitable bumps in the road instead of reverting to the all-too-frequent calls to sack the manager or buy the next “savior.”