Lots of Chelsea fans now keep wondering what has happened to our beloved Chelsea. Less than nine months ago we were crowned the FA Cup champions and for the first time in Chelsea history, the Uefa Champions League champions. And that too in style via a sensational comeback against Napoli in the round of sixteen, beating Barcelona in the semis and defeating Bayern Munich in the final at the Allianz Arena. We had a manager who was a Chelsea legend and someone who loved the club with all his heart. Despite the departure of King Drogba, Roman once again did his shopping. He brought in young talents from all over the world. We were at the highest, came in to the new season in contention for eight trophies. So it must be normal for every Chelsea fan to wonder what happened to us. Why did we fall off all the way from top?
It’s obvious that Roman Abramovich loves the club. Honestly, we wouldn’t be where we are right now without him. But it’s not harsh to say that he tried to do big things in such a small time. One can never add so many new talents, order them to play a specific style of game immediately and then expect them to perform to the best. It is just so against the nature of how stuff happens. He wanted to boot out the oldies so much that the team players lost their respect for the leaders of the team. Leaders who have been here for so many years, leaders who experienced so many downfalls and successes of Chelsea, leaders who had learnt how to deal with situations like what we are in now. Every team needs leaders so that new players can look up to them at all times.
Jose Mourinho, during his tenure at Chelsea, created the Chelsea team under certain players like John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Petr Cech and Ashley Cole. He made them leaders of the team. Chelsea have been famous as a team in which power of some certain players are above the power of their manager. But believe it or not, it has been a good thing for Chelsea all the way. Because they step up in every downfall of Chelsea. The pre match pep talk given by Drogba and Terry before the game against Valencia in the last game of Champions League group stages last year is a clear evidence of that. Young players went to them in difficult situations. Because they were experienced. Because they know how to deal with situations like that.
Imagine what would happen when an experienced leader is removed from a successful company. If there is no leader, there would be no aim or target for the company as a whole. All there would be are dreams of certain individuals who would try their best to show what they’ve got. Just take a look at what happened to Arsenal after their invincible season. They eventually sold out experienced players and replaced them with young new talents who had not faced enough up and downs of a football career. Now they are just a team full of youngsters in which everyone is trying to do their best to showcase their skills in the hope of some other ambitious team might buy them. Chelsea are now appearing to enter a situation like that. Abramovich, with his hard intention to bring a youth revolution at the club, has put the stance of such leaders like Frank, John and Ashley in doubt. As a result, new players like Eden Hazard, Oscar and Moses see an opportunity to beat those legends and rise up individually. This has created a Chelsea team with so many individuals striving for themselves and themselves only. The ferocious shouts from John from the back are now missing. The call given by Frank for the team to move forward is missing. And clearly the part where Didier comes out from nowhere saying “Chelsea fans, don’t worry I got this” is missing.
That was the old Chelsea. We need the power of legends to be reinstated in the club. Legends are born. They are not made. We cannot bring in a player, give him the captain’s armband and then expect him to lead like Terry. Chelsea leaders need to have a certain love for the club. Their love for the club will be evident from certain actions and words that come out from them. They need to have experienced both good times and bad times at Chelsea. They need to know how Chelsea deals with those kind of situations. They need to have experienced the sheer courage players have put up to comeback from a deficit in an important final and also the happiness that surfaces around the team after winning a trophy. Ivanovic is nearing to be a player like that for us. Ramires and Juan Mata too. And David Luiz, if he continues like that, will one day be a Chelsea legend.
So if Roman wants to rescue his Chelsea, he needs to give Frank a new contract and replace this spanish waiter with someone who wants to be the Chelsea manager for the sake of being in Chelsea’s history and not someone who is just looking for a job after undergoing two years of being unemployed. Preferably Jose Mourinho. Chelsea needs its legends back. We need our old Chelsea back.
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