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As Chelsea go into the final week of the Premier League season, the club will also head into the final week of the Roman Abramovich era. The Russian oligarch built an empire at the club, but what does he leave behind? The last five seasons have brought plenty of trophies, but those trophies have papered over the cracks of an aging regime.
Abramovich changed the dynamics of English football with the money and spending he brought to Chelsea. He blazed a path for the likes of Manchester City and, more recently, Newcastle United. The problem was that the club continued to operate in the same way, and while it did deliver trophies, it created an unsustainable environment. Overachieving managers and constant sacking is what Abramovich leaves behind.
Chelsea's over achieving managers
Chelsea have won six trophies under the likes of Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard, and Thomas Tuchel. Barring the Carabao Cup, the club won everything an English club could win. On paper, that seems great, but it only takes a glance past the numbers to see the fact that all these managers went on to 'over-achieve'.
Conte was not expected to win the title after Chelsea finished 10th in 2015-16. Sarri left the football club unceremoniously but still managed to leave with a Europa League winners medal. Lampard came in and lived up to expectations by scraping the top four in his first season. He identified the players that needed to be sold, but those players never left.
Tuchel came in and won the Champions League with Marcos Alonso and Antonio Rudiger, among others, and that once again changed the narrative. Suddenly winning the Champions League meant that the team were ready to compete over the 38-game season. It came to no one's shock that, similar to 2015-16 and 2017-18, the same cracks broke through the patchwork of trophies.
Several of these players will leave in the summer, but they are not the only problem. The constant over-achievement has given birth to a false narrative at the club. A section of the fanbase enabled by people in the media continued to prop Chelsea up as title contenders year after year.
Chelsea were expected to challenge because if they didn't, Roman Abramovich and the fans would turn on the manager. Only Jose Mourinho in 2013-14 and Lampard in 2019-20 have gone through a season without a trophy and have not faced backlash. This scaremongering and constant threat was created through the actions of Abramovich.
The sacking culture at Chelsea
At any new job, one of the main things a person searches for is job security. During his 19-year tenure as custodian of Chelsea, Abramovich appointed 15 different first-team managers and coaches. Some, like Avram Grant and Guus Hiddink, came in to steady the ship as caretakers. They did not make much of a difference.
Abramovich sacked managers like Carlo Ancelotti, who had two solid seasons. Mourinho was sacked unfairly as well. Instant success was the demand, and anything less than that was deemed a failure. The trophies helped support Abramovich's approach amongst the fans, but they gave birth to a toxic culture and aided the narrative by the media.
Players always knew that if they didn't perform during the season, it wasn't their job to be on the line. The media always knew that a poor run of form would allow them to pile pressure on the manager and drive the narrative amongst the fanbase. There is no doubt that if the club weren't heading towards new ownership, the media would be coming after Tuchel.
Fans are getting smarter though, and social media and new media like YouTube and Twitch have allowed fans to talk amongst each other. Fans now see that it's unfair to ask a manager to consistently perform with a squad built by five previous managers. A team may have a top manager and top players, but if those players don't suit the manager, then the system won't work.
Chelsea became a great club under Abramovich, and he built solid foundations for the new owners to thrive. The academy is one of the best, and the women's team is the best in England, but the men's team he leaves behind needs work.
There will be a more tolerant approach towards Tuchel, and the fans are mostly all behind him. Weird sections exist in every fanbase, but the narrative is driven by how the club is run from the top down. There is no doubt that if Tuchel goes through a rough patch, the media will say Abramovich would have sacked him.
Fans should go into this new era by thanking Abramovich for the foundations he built and what he achieved with the club. With players leaving the club, there will be incoming signings, and some fans could even stop supporting the team. Those that are loyal and stay behind can look forward to a new approach and one that is more fitting to the times we live in.
