An Executive Decision for Long-Term Change

Chelsea Football Club faces FC Barcelona in a Guinness International Champions Cup match in Landover, Maryland. | Photo: Homar Hernandez

The consistent squad selection of Chelsea Football Club Manager Maurizio Sarri results in the same inconsistent results of the club on the pitch since 2014. The West London club sits fourth in the English Premier League, watching Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham trend upward using a blend of modern soccer tactics and academy players. This is far from what the club is used to, as the Blues have won five league titles since 2003 and are usually in the title race. Chelsea is falling behind, with the club’s financial power dwindling and the sell-to-buy transfer policy-lacking success.

The Blues consistent short-term approach to winning trophies should focus on using players from its successful academy, as Chelsea can no longer spend loads of cash to compete with other big European clubs. The result? A long-term plan to fix short-term setbacks.

Chelsea has won more trophies than the rest of the big six English clubs since Roman Abramovich took over in 2003. Yet, the days of consistently spending a lot of money on transfers to stay at the top while forcing out managers and academy players are over. Abramovich has run into visa issues and is rumored to be looking to sell the club. A new owner may not be willing to invest as much as Abramovich once did. However, Abramovich’s investment into the youth academy has recently paid off.

The Academy team has won the UEFA Youth League and Under-18 Premier League twice, along with seven FA Youth Cup wins in the past 11 seasons.

Despite this, former captain and Chelsea legend John Terry is the last academy player to be an integral part of the first team. Meanwhile, many players who have performed inconsistently since 2014, including David Luiz, Marcos Alonso and Willian, remain in the squad despite lacking the physical or technical attributes to compete at the Premier League level.

Managers came and went in the past two decades, but none have ever fully integrated academy players besides Terry into the system, even with the success of Gaël Kakuta, Josh McEachran, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and others at youth level. The long-term development of these players has never outweighed the need for imminent success and job security.

Now, Director Marina Granovskaia’s transfer record is subpar and the club needs answers. The questions even come from the manager, as Sarri criticized the team following a 2-0 loss to Arsenal on Jan. 19.

 “I’m extremely angry, very angry indeed,” the Italian said. “This defeat was due to our mentality. I can’t accept it. We had a similar issue against Tottenham in the league. It appears this group of players are extremely difficult to motivate.”

Plenty of the players in the squad versus Arsenal will still be selected next match, just as they were after a 0-0 draw against Tottenham. Will players such as Alonso or Willian ever find the same motivation they had when playing under former manager Antonio Conte? Alonso has completed only seven of 79 crosses attempted in the league. On the other hand, Willian has only 53 goals and assists combined in 193 league appearances at the club. If the club is unwilling to leave Alonso and Willian on the bench, then these players will not force themselves to perform better.

Meanwhile, academy player Callum Hudson Odoi, who has rarely played, is now linked with a move to German giant Bayern Munich. The Englishman, whose contract lapses in 18 months, is rumored to believe he would receive more playing time in the Bavarians’ first team.

The 18-year-old’s impatience is understandable, as other young English players like Reiss Nelson and Jadon Sancho are succeeding in the Bundesliga. Closer to home, 21-year-old Manchester United academy graduate Marcus Rashford has eight goals and six assists for the Red Devils.

Odoi has three goals and an assist for the first team in 305 minutes, versus Willian’s five goals and six assists in 2,136 minutes. Wonderkids like Odoi do not spawn on the training ground every day, and Chelsea is wasting a potential star in the making.

On the other hand, along with losing out on talent, the Blues are losing out on squad competition. If an academy graduate like Danish international Andreas Christensen plays more often and earns his place in the starting 11, then veterans like David Luiz will put more effort into earning his minutes back.

Although this could cause instability in the squad, Chelsea could sell players not willing to play for the badge and bring in new players to fill the bench. If an academy player is sold from the first team, the club profits from the sale and can either promote a bench player, an academy player or both to new roles in the first team.

Academy players can benefit the club’s playing style as younger players commonly change positions and can be molded to have certain physical attributes. For instance, Liverpool sits first in the Premier League playing Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the fullback positions. Contemporary soccer requires fullbacks who can both defend and attack with strong physical and technical attributes. Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea are each fairly limited in one of these areas, while Robertson and Alexander-Arnold are quality on both ends of the pitch.

Sarri’s unwillingness to rotate the squad or call back one of the club’s 41 players on loan — known as the Loan Army — is questionable. Right-back Reece James at Championship club Wigan Athletic has won the club’s Player of the Month award three months in a row!

A long-term change to the transfer policy and short-term approach may be risky business to the Chelsea executive board. However, the desire of academy players to break into the first team and their ability to adjust to modern soccer tactics can lead Chelsea to success and keep the blue flag flying high.