Chelsea FC: Todd Boehly Blunders
By Adam Jamison
With regard to my prediction at the end of my previous article, I would like to apologize for my misguided prescience- as a longtime Chelsea fan, I should’ve known better than to assume the deep cracks in Chelsea’s proverbial façade would in truth last another six months. That’s on me. Just over a month after said publication, Chelsea descended into chaos once again, as manager Enzo Maresca left the club by mutual consent, followed by the mid-season hiring (read: ‘poaching’) of RC Strasbourg’s manager Liam Rosenior. I mean c’mon, what’s a little internal restructuring between friends?
Alas, here we are, a mere two-and-a-half months later, and suffice it to say that things have not exactly gone swimmingly for all involved. During this time, Chelsea have gone from fifth place on 31 points and a +11 goal difference to sixth place on 48 points and a +15 goal difference. Also over this period, the gap between Chelsea and league leaders Arsenal has gone from 17 points to 22 points. Though this might not all quite set off alarm bells yet, if we only take the most recent six games into account, Chelsea would be in 17th place on five points. If I could underline the previous line and highlight it in red, I would. And while it’s all but confirmed that the Premier League will soon have five automatic qualification spots to the Champions League, it goes without saying that for a club of Chelsea’s stature and expectations, relying on things of this nature to secure Champions League qualification is an embarrassment in itself.
Oh, sorry, did I mention the Champions League? That elephant-sized international football competition glowering at me from the corner of the room? Oh, that one, of course!
For those of you who were unaware- you whose blissful ignorance I deeply envy- Chelsea did, in fact, participate in the Champions League this year, with Liam Rosenior taking charge before a two-legged knockout round tie against Paris St. Germain. Of course, Chelsea hadn’t been in their best form, but neither had PSG, as they’re currently having to fight for the top spot in Ligue 1, as opposed to running away with the league as they typically do. Furthermore, this is a PSG team that Chelsea beat convincingly in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup over the summer. While it is true that PSG are the defending champions of the Champions League, Chelsea have never shied away from the underdog role in knockout competitions (see: 2012 CL final).
Many Chelsea fans would agree that the closest thing that the Club has had to an ‘ethos’ throughout the past few decades is that it thrives in chaos. As such, one could never truly blame Chelsea fans for being cautiously optimistic going into the tie. Would Chelsea’s young stars be able to handle the pressure on the biggest European stage? Would Chelsea’s new coach be able to rekindle the success briefly seen at the start of his tenure? Would it all crumble to pieces as many honestly expected? Yes, yes, and… yes.
Through the first 70 odd minutes of the first leg, Chelsea looked like the young, hungry side that all knew could show up on any given weekend, eager to prove themselves against the best. Then, spurred by a goal gifted to PSG in the 74’ via a goalkeeper error (put a pin in this), Chelsea entirely collapsed. In the last 20 minutes of the match, PSG netted three times, all but ending the tie. Now, as we all know, football looks far easier from the stands, and another measure more straightforward in hindsight as well. But, Rosenior’s choices of starting goalkeeper Filip Jørgensen- who was directly at fault for at least two of PSG’s goals- for only his third Champions League appearance of the season, as well as waiting far too late to make any substitutions, seemed emblematic of his lack of experience. From a fan’s perspective, it just felt like a letdown- the Club signed all these young, talented players and added on an equally young and exciting coach to the project and as fans, we’re left with… this? But of course, as famed early-21st century poet 50 Cent once said, “when it rains, it pours”- and pour, it surely did.
The second leg went, for all who weren’t delusional Chelsea fans, as expected. A Chelsea team lacking a killer instinct, cohesion, and admittedly a few injured players, coming up against a PSG team firing on all cylinders. It was a 3-0 drubbing where PSG scored twice in the first 20 minutes and never seemed as if they had to get out of first gear, while Chelsea’s horrific showing was epitomized by Rosenior handing Garnacho a note with tactics instructions while down 8-2 on aggregate in the 85’. Though Chelsea are far from the only storied European club to suffer an embarrassing loss in a Champions League knockout tie- Barcelona and Arsenal come to mind- this begs the question: where does Chelsea go from here? What issues present under Maresca have been addressed by Rosenior, and what signs have been shown of genuine improvement?
And thus, we arrive at the present day. Chelsea finds itself in an unenviable position, struggling on all fronts with no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel; Chelsea’s woes on the pitch are mirrored by an accordingly bleak view of its management off of it. As reported by The Telegraph, supporters groups from both Chelsea and Strasbourg plan to march in protest before the game against Manchester United following the international break. The purpose of the protest, as defined by its organizers, is to highlight the “incompetence and mismanagement” of BlueCo regarding Chelsea, as well as Strasbourg having been “stripped of [its] identit[y]”. These causes speak for themselves, as they are the sorts of issues that are inherent in multi-club ownership structures. Sure, these cracks could be papered over by success on the field, but immediate success on the pitch is clearly not the main goal of BlueCo; as such, the current situation was always inevitable. Multi-club ownership structures inherently benefit one club, to the detriment of the rest of the ‘portfolio.’
It would be difficult to argue that the relationship between the two BlueCo clubs has ever felt more parasitic than it does now. Even just taking Strasbourg’s most recent winter transfer window into account- two loan players returned to Chelsea, two more Chelsea loanees joined, and to top that off, their coach went to Chelsea as well, as if he were a loan player being recalled. What is a lifelong Strasbourg supporter supposed to feel, aside from blatant disregard and disrespect, when it’s made so painfully obvious that their owners view them as little more than the football version of an MLB farm team, or an NBA G-League team? The lack of respect and regard shown to Strasbourg as a whole from BlueCo should give any football fan anywhere cause for concern and discomfort. Strasbourg has seemingly ceased to be an actual football club in the eyes of BlueCo and instead functions solely as a sort of incubation pod or investment vehicle for the benefit of Chelsea. I find myself incapable of performing the mental gymnastics necessary to believe that every sporting action taken by Strasbourg since the BlueCo takeover was done in Strasbourg’s own best interest. If you truly believe that, well, hey- I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
This all begs the following two questions- what amount of footballing success is needed to balance out morally or ethically dubious management (the management itself or its decisions), and how can these ownership groups be trusted to prioritize footballing success and culture of a Club over financial gains?
This is not the first time that Chelsea has necessitated a sort of moral bargaining on the part of its supporters- looking at you, upstanding Russian citizen, Mr. Abramovich. Nor is this even the first time that another club has been, for lack of a better phrase, chewed up and spit out in order to support footballing operations at Chelsea (re: Vitesse Arnhem, as discussed in the previous article, here). Regardless of his detractors and alleged unsavory business dealings prior to purchasing Chelsea, any supporter would affirm that during Abramovich’s tenure as owner, there was never any doubt that his sole focus was success on the pitch. Yes, those years were marked by management that could generously be described as ruthless and loose with cash, but as a supporter, you knew that a certain level of performance and success was required; you could trust in that. Now, that (‘ethos’, ‘culture’, insert your favorite corporate buzzword here) is missing.
Before I get too far ahead of myself, I do want to make a point of congratulating BlueCo. They somehow managed to get Raheem Sterling off the books; and Jesus wept, or something. A singular moment of brilliance from everyone’s favorite neighborhood private equity firm notwithstanding- can supporters ever really trust a private equity firm to prioritize football success over financial success? Such is the delineation between the ownerships of Abramovich and that of BlueCo. Abramovich was famously only limited by (what little) financial rules existed under his tenure, investing roughly €1.8 billion (mostly via interest-free loans) into the Club during his tenure, the repayment of which he waived upon his forced sale of the Club. BlueCo, on the other hand, seems to be running the Club like…well, a private equity firm. It has become increasingly apparent that the end goal of their management decisions is not immediate success, but rather to ensure a decent return on investment through maximizing asset value. I’m shocked- shocked- to find that a private equity firm is running my Club into the ground (bonus points for anyone who gets the Casablanca reference).
After the horrifying prescience of my last prediction, I would be remiss to not end on one here. As such, I’m looking forward to a happy ending to this entire saga, as UEFA forces BlueCo to sell RC Strasbourg before next season. Why? Because two clubs competing in the Conference League at the same time can’t have the same owner…
