- Chelsea’s season has been shambolic at best, with the club set to finish in an unfathomable position
- The new era in West London hasn’t gone according to plan despite the enormous amount of resources
- Top of the priority list will be to get a proven manager to stabilize the club ahead of next season
A brace from Rodrygo on April 18 confirmed Chelsea’s exit from the UEFA Champions League.
They might have put in a better performance than last weeks, but there was nothing they could do as Real Madrid marched to an eleventh semi-final in 13 years.
The Blues are now set to sit out of European football until at least 2025. Perhaps it is what the club needs. After a period of turmoil occasioned by a change in owners and the subsequent hiring and firing of managers, Chelsea will need time to set their house in order.
A livid Thiago Silva gave the owners a dressing down after the Madrid defeat. He warned that the club might find itself in the same situation if a few things were not corrected ahead of the new season.
Afriupdate takes a look at the most important things Todd Boehly and Co need to look at ahead of next season. This season is pretty done and dusted.
1. Hire a proven coach
There is no doubt that the hiring of Graham Potter backfired on Boehly. The fact that they fired a proven winner in Thomas Tuchel to bring in a manager who had no prior experience in managing a ‘big’ club didn’t help.
This time around, Chelsea should not gamble with whoever they choose as the new manager on a long-term basis.
Frank Lampard was brought in to give breathing space as the club undertook an exhaustive process.
Names such as Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique have been floated. The likes of Ruben Amorim and Roberto De Zerbi might be promising managers, but there is no telling if they could be just another version of Potter.
Chelsea needs a firm ‘proven’ hand.
2. A good striker
The last proper striker Chelsea had was Diego Costa.
Much of Chelsea’s problems in recent times have been down to the lack of a good striker to finish off the chances created.
There have been failed experiments like Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The new coach should have a striker on top of his priority list.
There aren’t a lot of good strikers in the market and the ones available won’t come cheap. Thank God for Boehly’s war chest, though. Harry Kane, Goncalo Ramos and Rasmus Hojland are strikers Chelsea should consider.
3. Invest wisely
It is actually baffling to state that Chelsea doesn’t have a proper striker when they have spent an excess of 600 million euros in only two windows.
Boehly is believed to have ceded transfer decisions to the recently appointed directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart. Chelsea might have been praised for being quick in bringing in new players, but the price they forked out for some players was questionable.
The club will need to identify priority areas to make sure they don’t overprice players and put heavy expectations on them. They’ll also need to sign players who fit the demands of the coach and the existing squad.
4. Trim the squad
Part of the investment and getting a new coach will see many players depart the club. In his tirade, Thiago Silva revealed that the dressing room had to be expanded to accommodate 30-plus players. It became even more difficult for the manager to choose a regular starting eleven from the huge squad.
There is a thin line between squad depth and a bloated squad. Chelsea currently has seven wingers, without counting the likes of Mason Mount or Kai Havertz, who have often been used in such wide positions.
With newbies Mudryk and Noni Madueke on extremely long contracts, the onus is on Hakim Ziyech and Cristian Pulisic to find new clubs.
Nagelsmann vs Enrique
The dismissal of Graham Potter presented an opportunity for the owners to make the right decision of hiring a new manager.
Club legend Frank Lampard was roped in as a, ‘we continue our thorough and exhaustive process for a permanent head coach.’
According to multiple media outlets, ‘the permanent head coach’ search has been narrowed down to either Julian Nagelsmann or Luis Enrique.
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