One Journalist believes he knows what one of the biggest issues is at Chelsea right now, and I don’t think many Chelsea fans or even pundits, would disagree.
Chelsea have signed very good young players across the entire squad. And in the summer they also cleared out a lot of players, which was actually needed. But many of these players were senior players and because Chelsea only signed young players this summer, they have been left with a lack of experience and proven players in the current squad.
This creates a risk for the here and now, something that is being proven right now after six games into the new season. Whether signing more experienced players would have made a huge difference or not none of us know, but I certainly believe it would have helped rather than hindered.
Ben Jacobs thinks the same. The Journalist has published his latest exclusive and extensive Chelsea FC column for SPTC this week, and he highlights this issue.
EXCL: The @JacobsBen Chelsea column!
– Toney to Chelsea latest – player keen to stay in London
– Industry insiders thoughts on Chelsea's business
– Pochettino's Eghbali talks and owners stance on him
– Poch's high value on leadership
– Much more!https://t.co/vvOMAxFjrv pic.twitter.com/aDX9xln2H0— Simon Phillips (@siphillipssport) September 25, 2023
Jacobs said: “If you take the signings individually they all have fantastic profiles and some (Caicedo, Palmer, Lavia) can definitely make an impact both now and for many seasons to come. That’s why the future is still bright. But the short-term success feels more uncertain because the results aren’t coming. In contrast, West Ham went for James Ward-Prowse and Spurs bought James Maddison and both teams have been given an instant boost by those additions.
“Although the data may back up Chelsea’s recruitment strategy, the players signed also aren’t used to a scenario with less senior players around to learn from. Just think of the benefit to many of Chelsea’s young midfielders if they could train with N’Golo Kante (who Chelsea obviously did want to keep) or even Mateo Kovacic. So often a squad player who is older can still be essential to the dynamic even when not playing as regularly providing they have the right kind of personality. James Milner at Liverpool (and now Brighton) is a great example of this.”
One thought on ““Less senior players around” – Highlighting one of the issues at Chelsea”
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It’s called a rebuild for a reason, and let’s not forget that the fan base were adamant about cleaning out the dead wood! We’ve still got Thiago Silva to provide the grounding effect of the savvy veteran (even though some are beginning to question whether he deserves a starting spot), so it’s not as though we have no leadership. We’d still have Kante if the owners had had their way and let’s not forget that Ben Chilwell has been around the block now a time or two. But, on the whole, I think the commitment to youth has been done right. At some point you have to stop dealing in half-measures and just rip the bandage off. There’s short-term pain (which we are most certainly experiencing), but these young players will learn a lot from this experience and be the better for it in the long run.