There's an interesting tidbit on ESPNFC
by HTownND (2018-05-14 17:48:38)

In reply to: Hazard has to be the most frustrating player for Chelsea  posted by IrishCavan

Post Reply Return to Clark's Pitch

"Chelsea under Roman Abramovich have always operated on the principles that stability is overrated, that coaches are disposable and that a winning culture can flow upwards from an expensively assembled dressing room rather than downwards from the top. All three were sound as long as their owner's pockets ran deeper than any others in the Premier League."

this fits with the Drogba quote, when he asked Roman, after leaving, why he always changes managers. And Roman told him, point blank, because it always works. That mindset will be tough to overcome, but stability has never, been prized, even going back to when I started following them in 2000. Gullit had been sacked a few years earlier, and Vialli was dumped one game into the season for Ranieri. It's been like that ever since

"For the first eight seasons of Abramovich's ownership, Chelsea were ever-present in the top four and won three Premier League titles. The seven seasons since 2011, when Manchester City forever altered the domestic landscape by qualifying for the Champions League for the first time, have yielded two Premier League titles but also fifth-, sixth- and 10th-placed finishes."

I hadn't seen it broke out this way, but it encapsulates what it's felt like of late. It's not lost on my that FFP was introducted in 2009

"City's rise, coupled with the incremental improvements made by Tottenham and Liverpool under Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp respectively, have eliminated Chelsea's margin for error. The inconsistency on the pitch borne out of instability off it now has tangible consequences at Stamford Bridge.

Then there is the fact that the last two Premier League triumphs, in 2015 and 2017, were achieved by swimming against the financial tide. Chelsea's net spend of £119 million since June 2014 is significantly lower than that of Crystal Palace (£126m) and Everton (£165m), and dwarfed by the gargantuan outlay of Manchester United (£417m) and Manchester City (£496m)."

I'm not sure everyone has noticed this, because it's always been about Roman's ill gotten luchre buying the team, but in reality, they've been pretty damn frugal, despite the Torres signing, etc. Being below CP and Everton was a bit jarring though, I didn't realize it was that low, although our last two transfer windows have sucked

"Chelsea have not been the Premier League's biggest spenders for some time. They remained at the top by being the smartest, targeting elite players with friendly release clauses such as Diego Costa and N'Golo Kante and adding intelligently around their core, while Marina Granovskaia proved peerless at securing maximum value for those deemed surplus to requirements.

But recruitment has felt considerably more scattergun in recent windows, with Chelsea invariably left scrambling for squad reinforcements after failing to land their top targets. It remains difficult to see the benefit of acquiring Ross Barkley and Danny Drinkwater, particularly as both represent obstacles to graduates of the most dominant youth academy in England.

A return to the strategy that first brought Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Mohamed Salah to Stamford Bridge is what is required. Securing top talent must be the priority this summer, even if Abramovich can no longer afford to shop at the very top of the market."

Our ability to find the young talent, as witnessed by the names in that last paragraph, and the success of our youth academy (even if they never make it to the senior team, which continues to be a huge sticking point with fans, see Dom Solanke and Musonda as the latest screw ups. They have some real kick ass young talent. I don't know if stability will change the problems we have with guys going from academy to senior team, but it's been frustrating to watch. Something has to change, but I'm not sure what will. That said, we're still going to be a big club, and we will be right back in the thick of it next year. But something's got to give at this point.



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