The exclusive Frank Leboeuf Chelsea FC column was published on SPTC first on Friday!
Chelsea had their big new kit launch this week with a 90s theme and I love the new shirts. I love it because it hasn’t got any sponsor on and you really see the badge of Chelsea.
It’s nice that the club decided to go back to the basics because it’s where a great era started. But don’t forget the 70s and the Peter Osgood era and everything that came before. But let’s say that the new era started in 95/96 with Ruud Gullit coming in to Chelsea, and then the likes of Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo, myself, Dan Petrescu, Mark Hughes all joining the club and winning the FA Cup in 1997 really started the successful era of the 90s.
You always wonder if the young players at the club currently know you or not. If they didn’t before then now they do when you see the shirt of Viall and next to that the shirt of Leboeuf! I don’t know who decided to use my shirt in the launch, but to the person who decided, I want to thank them very much because its a fantastic tribute and a fantastic gesture from the club. I was really moved to see my shirt on the special launch and also next to Gianluca.
I lent some stuff to the Chelsea museum, they have my World Cup final shirt and also the two shirts from Chelsea when we won the FA Cup in 2000 and the Cup Winners Cup in 1998, as well as all of my silverware that I left and also my boots from the 98’ World Cup final. Everything is in there at the museum. So I know that I am not forgotten, I know the Chelsea fans know me and I receive many good messages from them. Every time I say something about Chelsea, whether it’s going to be good or not!
You always wonder whether people like Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk, Ben Chilwell etc know you. But when they see that picture then they must know who ‘that guy’ was!!
It’s always nice because we all have an ego and we all want to be recognised by the new generation, and especially at Chelsea, because what we did in the 90s, deciding to join Chelsea at that time, which wasn’t the club it was now, was a huge bet and a risk. I had five clubs that wanted me that summer, and I went to the club that was more unknown than the others. It was a big challenge alongside fantastic people, but I didn’t know them all and I didn’t know whether it would work or not. I came because I felt something in my core and I can’t even really now say why, but it was a feeling that I had to go to Chelsea, and it completely changed my life. I never wanted to sign for any other English club after that and it’s been Chelsea forever.
When I saw what the club did for this kit launch, it makes me so proud of the decision that I made, and I am so right to have done what I did.
And now on top of all of this we have Chelsea linking up with Strasbourg. There is something special about Strasbourg as well. And as I have played for both clubs, so that is a big sign there for me.
I know I’ve been critical last season towards the players, the club and the decisions they made. But I love that club. But if Mr. Boehly or anyone on the board need me for anything, then they know that I am going to be there, because it’s Chelsea forever!
When I saw Dennis Wise and Roberto Di Matteo in the launch I was very jealous and envious, I wanted to be there!! But these two really represent this new era that we had. Wisey was the captain of the team, he was the leader of that generation. He 100% deserved to be there. And Di Matteo is the nice guy, the beautiful player, the guy who scored the goal at Wembley after 50 seconds, and the guy who became the Chelsea manager and won the Champions League for the club for the first time ever. So if those guys are not there, then nobody can be there!
I cheer those two very much, amongst many others at Chelsea. But I arrived with Roberto and I remember he was speaking Italian, I was speaking French, we only spoke a little bit of English. I remember signing together almost at the same time, and we went to a restaurant on Leicester Square because we didn’t know anything else. It was maybe one of the worst restaurants because it’s only for tourists. And we spent the evening together outside and we tried to talk and to make sure we understood things together. There was a fight breaking out behind us at the same time and it was all crazy! But it started to bring the cement together for the team and between all of us players.
The two guys who came to welcome me when I signed was Wise and John Spencer. When I saw those two guys, one Scottish, one Cockney, I didn’t understand a word of what they were saying! I said, ‘well I don’t think we are going to be very good scoring headers on corner kicks’ because they were both very short! I said, ‘I think we need to hire some tall guys’!!
The joy and smiles on their faces and the welcome they gave me was the beginning of something great, and I felt it at that time.
Chelsea head off to their USA tour on Monday and we are now looking super light in the squad, especially in midfield. I am concerned that we haven’t added any more signings yet in time for this tour, because you win battles in the middle of the park. You might not win the war, but you need to create confidence and be strong in the middle of the park, which is not the case at the moment. We only have Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher as the main players in there, we definitely need at least one more midfielder.
I’ve talked about the experienced players that we need on here a lot. We have seen many signings of very young players, I know Rayan Cherki of Lyon is a potential target. But he’s a very young player. It’s only last season that he really started to play and have some success under Laurent Blanc. I’m still expecting something big coming with a new striker and expecting to see someone come in the middle of the park.
We have to give some praise to the club too though, because they have been working very hard on selling players, which was the first task they needed to do, and they’ve done very well with that. Great for us that Saudi Arabia turned up and took some of our players, so there was some relief there. The club did very well with outgoings and very quick, so well done for that.
But now, because they have emptied the dressing room, they need two or three big signings now. I’m not talking about money, I’m not talking about necessarily famous players. Because I think the fans understand that it’s not just the names that will make the difference, it’s more about getting what you need on the field. We saw players like Wise and Di Matteo as a fine example of that during my time. They were both internationals but not big stars, but they worked so hard and they were warriors, and that is what we need.
We need players who are like 25, 26, 27 with experience, coming from England or elsewhere, but I think from England is always going to be more experience. I’m sure you can find fantastic midfielders from Spain, for example, and you are going to pay three times less than you will pay for a midfielder in England. In France I know players who could do the job in our midfield.
One of the biggest tasks as well as midfield is the striker. Some of these proven strikers are going to cost a fortune, and some wont come because we don’t have Champions League football. So we have to change the tactic and change the target and see what we can get. I’m sure there are specialists at the club and they can scout some suitable players. It’s very complex but I am sure it’s possible.
I mentioned our interest in Cherki above. There has been some comparisons to Eden Hazard, but I see him more like Hatem Ben Arfa who played for Newcastle. The guy is capable of getting the ball and dribbling past everybody, taking on every player. He is fast, left-footed but knows how to use his right foot so he can score some nice goals with both feet. He’s faster than Hazard and I think he’s a bit more technical as well, but he’s not as clever as Hazard was yet. He’s still a raw player in the way that he’s still what I call a street footballer, which is somebody who has all the skills; you cannot find another player who is more skillful on the planet right now and that’s amazing when he’s able to do that on the pitch and what he can do with his feet and the ball, but he has to know when to get rid of the ball at the right time. And sometimes those players get rid of the ball too soon or too late.
In terms of talent, no problem. But I am just concerned that Chelsea are just investing in young players only right now and not buying enough experience. Cherki is one hell of a player and if he takes care of himself and his fitness, and listens to the coaches who he is going to work with, the guy is going to be huge, a huge player.
But right now Chelsea are in an emergency situation again and it’s important we get experience as well as signing young investments.
We need to prioritise someone strong in the middle of the park as well as a striker. You empty the dressing room because we have too many players, so we need to be more than just in the investment mode right now.
I don’t know why Chelsea are not going for Andre Onana for £50m. Maybe he didn’t want to come. But I mean, Onana or Mike Maignan from AC Milan would be absolutely great if you’re looking for a goalkeeper.
I want to talk about the Dele Alli interview now from this week because it was a very powerful interview and he mentioned about Mauricio Pochettino and how they had a very close human relationship together, and when Pochettino left he was very sad. Almost like Pochettino was more like a father-figure to Alli.
You can see that players nowadays need that. We see it with Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp, so many times hugs from the coach and you can feel what they have. Carlo Ancelotti is the same. And even Jose Mourinho has been capable of doing that, we saw it with Marco Materazzi when he left, we saw him crying in Mourinho’s arms. Some players are young and they need another father-figure. They leave their home very young so they need somebody that they can trust and rely on, and it’s understandable.
Personally I was more effective with somebody I had to fight against, but that stopped when I reached a certain age when I wanted to be more peaceful, and I found what I was looking for when I signed for Chelsea where Ruud was my friend. I remember a conversation with him, calling him when I was injured, and I asked how the game was (Zola’s first game) and he asked me what I was doing in the evening, and I said ‘I’m injured so I’m going to stay at home as my coach would not be happy’. He said, well the coach wants to invite you to dinner to have a good time with his friend tonight’. That was very different.
It was the same with Gianluca when he was first a coach and we had a very good relationship. It didn’t overly matter though the relationship with a coach because you know they come and go and you have to deal with that. Being too close to someone can be hurtful because when he leaves, you don’t know where you’re going to stand.
But I understand players, especially Dele, because he needed that and needed someone close to him, and I am sure Pochettino didn’t even know what was going on because he wasn’t told. I like coaches who love their players because those players will give everything to them and can ask them anything. That’s what it is, the players need to feel they are loved by the coach. I talk to Didier Deschamps and Patrick Vieira about the relationships they have with their players, and players now need to feel and hear from the coach ‘you’re a great player but I want you to do more’.
Whereas in my day if I had a bad game it was, ‘Frank, what the hell have you done today? You do that one more time and you’re on the bench’. That’s how it was and I only saw that as fair because we were grown-ups, we were mature, and we didn’t want to hear bulls**t from the coach. Nowadays they need that, because most of the time they have left home very early and they’re from another social level. Some kids were created to become footballers to sustain the family. It wasn’t that in my case and most of the players I played with. My father was a Plumber and was making his own money. It says a lot about society and how many kids are lost and not helped.
The final thing I want to say on all of this. Sometimes we as pundits can be hard on players because they are not consistent, because they do not do the job we are expecting, and fans are also like us with the criticism going too far. You don’t see what you want to see and expect from players who earn lots of money. But sometimes you forget that we are facing human beings and we don’t really know what is going on behind the scenes. So it’s a lesson for everybody, journalists, pundits, fans. This really shows to the world that we should calm down when we are critical towards players, especially when we do not know the whole story.
Dele is so courageous and so brave to be able to speak out and explain the drama and traumas he has been through. I understand now much more on why he has those kinds of ups and downs. I felt so awful when I saw the interview because I have been critical of his consistency in the past. But when you are going through so much at such a young age, it’s absolutely normal to have struggles. It’s exceptional what he has been able to get through in his life.
I just wanted to say that because I felt bad yesterday and said to myself you know, ‘sometimes you should calm down when speaking on players, because you never know everything about them.’
Frank Leboeuf
