Exhibit 1: Before the start of their Premier League game on Sunday, Chelsea and Manchester City players took the knee in a show of solidarity for the ‘No Room for Racism’ campaign. Among the players was Enzo Fernandez, wearing the armband, with manager Enzo Maresca making him the Blues captain. As tone-deaf as it gets.
Before the start of the season, Fernandez had to apologise to his teammates for his involvement in a racist song about France. And he is now the Chelsea captain when he should have faced disciplinary action. It sent the wrong message. It also highlighted a lack of leadership at the club.
Exhibit 2: Deep into the second-half, Mateo Kovacic, a £30million signing for City from Chelsea, jogged past a £200million midfield and pulled the trigger. Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez helped the ball into the net. Todd Boehly, the club co-owner, stormed off his smart seats at the Bridge. Within hours, Chelsea announced the signing of Joao Felix for £45million. Their bloated senior squad now has 43 players. They have spent £1.12billion on players since Boehly and Behdad Eghbali took control of the club two years ago. Under them, the five-time Premier League champions have become English football’s basket-case.
Exhibit 3: Midway into the City game, Chelsea fans were singing Conor Gallagher’s name. The midfielder was forced out of the club, sold to Atletico Madrid for £35.8million. Gallagher, an academy graduate, who had been at the club since he was six years old, didn’t get the respect he deserved. And obviously, fans weren’t happy. But Chelsea barely have any other option. They need to comply with the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs) and the easier way is to sell the academy products. Last season, they sold Mason Mount to Manchester United for £55million.
Exhibit 4: Ahead of the team’s Europa Conference League qualifier against Swiss side Servette, Maresca vehemently defended his style of functioning, claiming that the club is not a mess. “I’m not working with 42 players, that is something from outside,” he told reporters. “I’m working with 21 players. The other 15 or 20, they are training apart. They are Chelsea players but they are not working with me. I don’t see them. It’s not a mess like it looks from outside, absolutely not.”
Among the outcasts are Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell, senior players and England internationals. Sterling has already sought clarity over his omission from the matchday squad against City, with his camp issuing a statement and saying: “As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea FC in relation to Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.”
Very early into the season, but trouble is brewing at the Bridge and Cobham. And Maresca looks destined to fail. Bookmakers have slashed the odds of him getting sacked to 6/1.
Carra-speak: Meanwhile, Jamie Carragher, the former Liverpool centre-half, has urged players to turn down approaches from Chelsea. “Chelsea have just got to stop buying players, and players have got to stop signing for Chelsea,” Carragher said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football. “If I was a player, I would think ‘why would I sign’? The only reason you would sign is because your agent might say, ‘we are getting a seven-year deal on big money, that’s guaranteed money for seven years’. You know what I would say? Back yourself, sign a four-year deal at a proper club.”
Epilogue: Chelsea’s rivals, especially their London rivals, are revelling in schadenfreude. “Stamford Bridge is falling down” was sung by Tottenham Hotspur fans during their game against Leicester City. But from English football’s perspective, the sooner Chelsea get their act together the better. Then again, sport is not easy.