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Depending on your measures, the 2017/2018 season for Chelsea may have been a lot of things ranging from "terrible" to "not that bad" (No one should be particularly happy with last season). Chelsea didn't make the top four for the third time in Roman's era and for some, the cracks have been on the wall for some time now.
To make matters worse, the board don't look like they're ready or interested in making amends, they have also been slow even with the appointment of a sporting director. A lot of people felt everything would be resolved before the world cup but like things have been for the last couple of years, the board seems to be waiting for a deadline or till the rush hour before making serious decisions.
Let's have a look as to why not announcing Sarri early enough and not having a sense of direction may affect Chelsea moving forward.
5. Clubs Are Moving On (Like it or not)
Although Chelsea fans may hate to admit it, the truth is other clubs are moving on and building. Liverpool just recently announced the purchase of Fabinho, with Keita joining also. They're building something really worthwhile and they could be serious contenders next season.
City honestly are okay the way they are but they'd most likely sign one or two people. To shore up the squad and make it more robust.
Mourinho is already making waves with Dalot and Fred (he'd still park the bus anyway) and seems to be focused on taking Pep's crown next season.
Arsenal already done with the Wenger saga, have got a new coach, completed the signing of Stephan Lichtsteiner, almost done with the Lucas Torreira signing, have agreements with Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Bernd Leno according to multiple sources. Coupled with their signings of the previous season, they're moving, planning and building
Spurs have managed to tie down Harry Kane and Mauricio Pochettino which is very good for them. They've also made a lot of progress with their stadium and that means more revenue. They're also always going to be title challengers.
That leaves Chelsea who at the moment have a coach who they want to sack, no sporting director, no new stadium (at least for now), no direction basically. How they fair off the field has a bearing on how they perform and things aren't looking good.
4. Targets Are Harder To Attract
Added to the fact that Chelsea won't be in Europe next season, the club seems to be in disarray right now. My opinion, no top footballer with a clear aim would want to join a club that at this point do not seem to get themselves.
Chelsea has been linked to top players like Lewandowski, Martial, and Bailey but honestly, that may not happen. The club first and foremost look reluctant to spend these days and Marina/ the board isn't/aren't making things easy. Always looking for the bargain everywhere. No Champions League and the current unrest (it may be non-existent and that's the vibe they're giving everyone).
Last season, Chelsea struggled with some "average" players. From the way it's looking, things won't get better. The club needs to find a clear sense of direction and target to sell to these players to join or else all they might end up attracting are average players, again.
3.
Conte Is Most Likely Destabilized
I would like you right now to put yourself in Conte's shoes. All through the season, it was rumored that he'd be sacked. In the beginning, I didn't get it. He just won the EPL, why would Chelsea want to sack him? After a while, I jumped on the bandwagon of people that wanted him to leave. Lol. He managed to scale through the season and end with a trophy (fantastic for his CV) although he had his worst league finish in years.
You'd expect that if Chelsea wanted him, they'd at least have sat down and probably released a statement that he was staying or something like that but the opposite was the case. They started flirting with Sarri and Blanc meaning that they didn't want him anymore. The reason why he hasn't been sacked probably has to do with Marina unwilling to pay both his money and Sarri's money so right now, Conte is waiting for whenever that happens. This is bad for anybody and even if he ends up not getting sacked, it won't be the same. It can't. He's yet to walk probably because of the money.
He could remain for next season surely, he's still, on paper, the coach but he's destabilized most likely and Chelsea would suffer for it.
2. Hazard And Courtois
“I’m waiting for new players next season. I want good players because I want to win the Premier League next season. - Eden Hazard
On new manager,
“Yeah I want to know, I want to know, but like I say I am focused on the World Cup. If we have something new – manager or players – it is always good to know it because I want players that can (help bring success back to) Chelsea next season." - Eden Hazard
These two are arguably the most important players in Chelsea and have had transfer news all over them recently.
Courtois in some quarters is regarded as a snake, disloyal player but can we really blame the man? He's looking out for his career. He's arguably one of the best keepers in the world, he deserves his accolades, he deserves better. Maybe he shouldn't have been so vocal to the media but the truth is he deserves better.
Same goes for Eden Hazard who for me is one of the best players in the world. They both deserve better players, a better atmosphere, a coach that allows them to be who they are, Hazard especially. Sarri is an attack-minded coach and he'd perform wonders with Hazard for sure. They both have also asked for a sense of direction from the club before they commit.
1. SARRI NEEDS TO START WORKING ON THE TEAM
Everybody needs time to settle down and get used to what they'd be working with. The earlier Chelsea sign Sarri, the better. People might argue that he won't do much till after the world cup anyway so we could wait till then but then he'd have a lot of decisions to make. On the youth, on the players, the ones he won't and would need, his targets, the way he wants to move forward and play football, his backroom staff, even adapting to England. He's not getting any of that now with the drama and to be frank and in the long run, it may affect the club.
Chelsea need to do better. The fixtures list were released yesterday, things are already in motion. We need to get our things in order, time, life, waits for no one.
