On July 1, the Argentine’s contract with the Londoners came into force.
Thus Chelsea enters the 2023/24 season. This introduction is not even at the start of the league or even the start of the pre-season matches. A new start is the appearance of a new manager in the club, which is Mauricio Pochettino. Chelsea are now struggling to stabilize the situation in the team. And the club has embarked on a process of restarting after the disastrous 2022/23 season.
Strongly and principally there is a process of reducing the bloated number of footballers, there are attempts to fit into financial fair play. All this means that Chelsea’s squad for the first match of the new season in Premier League will be significantly different from the lineup for the last game of last season. There have already been big transfer market reshuffles, so far mainly linked to the departure of players from the London team, which is quite expected.
Strategy development
Chelsea cannot afford a repeat of the chaotic 2022/23 season. By finishing in 12th place, the Blues recorded their worst Premier League finish since 1993/94, when they dropped to 14th. They lost 16 last season. There were more just in the same season almost 30 years ago. And after third-round eliminations of both domestic cups, Chelsea dropped out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals, losing to Real Madrid.
Chelsea have changed four managers. Thomas Tuchel was sacked after six Premier League appearances, and his replacement and costly Graham Potter was sacked nearly seven months later. During the transition, the Blues were coached by Bruno Saltor and Frank Lampard. Last season, the bet was made on Potter, who was destined for a great and long future at Stamford Bridge. But only 12 victories in 31 matches, the lack of progress in the game and hostility towards him from the fans predetermined the fate of the mentor.
Potter’s high-profile sacking is the latest twist in Todd Boely’s chaotic reign at Chelsea. The turmoil suggests that the club lacks a clear development plan, a clear strategy. Even before Potter’s resignation, this could be seen in the conduct of the transfer campaign.
Boeli and his Clearlake consortium partners spent around £600m signing the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mark Cucurella and Wesley Fofana in the summer of 2022. And in the winter, eight more newcomers joined to the team, including Enzo Fernandez for a record £107 million for Great Britain. Many of the signatories entered into unusually long-term deals. The necessary feature to avoid the punishment of financial fair play.
In the short term, this provided the Blues with a talented but huge and dysfunctional squad, heavily overwhelmed in some areas but never finding a world-class centre-forward.
Transfer balance
There are many transfer moves to be made at Chelsea this summer. The former indicate that some lessons have been learned at the club. The exodus has already begun, with Mateo Kovacic moving to Manchester City, while Koulibaly, N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy have gone to Saudi Arabia. It was assumed that Hakim Ziyech, as well as a number of other players, would also go in this direction. While Kai Havertz moved to Arsenal and Mason Mount moved to Manchester United, Ruben Loftus-Cheek moved to AC Milan. The future of forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Romelu Lukaku remains to be reckoned with.
Some of the transitions have caused some confusion. It has been speculated that Saudi funds are involved in financing Chelsea. But sources from the club itself reject this hypothesis. However, the incoming money helps the club meet all the financial rules, despite the huge expenses last season.
However, the club needs sporting progress in order not to fall into a financial hole under the rules of fair play. A big bet was made on the acquisition of young players last season. Now we can expect progress from them. More will be asked of Fernandez, Fofan, Benoît Badiashile, Mudrik, Madueke, back on loan Malo Gusteau and Andrei Santos, who should just start their careers in Premier League correctly.
The only significant signing so far this summer is Christopher Nkunku. The French player has to bring pace, sharpness, dribbling to the entire Chelsea forward line, even if he serves a goalscorer. For this, the 22-year-old Senegalese Nicholas Jackson from Villarreal was acquired. Although there is still a feeling that the Blues need an established star up front. Meanwhile, Chelsea are picking up players of lower status, but seemingly promising. And he’s also fighting for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo.
What is clear is that the squad with which Pochettino will go against Liverpool in the first round Premier League, will be very different from the one the Blues played with in the last game of last season against Newcastle. This will be the new Chelsea.
Sharing coaching
Pochettino’s appointment is the coach’s first major decision entrusted to athletic directors Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart. They praised the Argentine’s ability after a long selection that began with Potter’s resignation.
Leaving the post of head coach PSG at the end of the 2021/22 season, Pochettino was patiently waiting for his chance. And he was clearly attracted to the Chelsea project, even if it was associated with great risks and uncertainties. It’s always more pleasant to be in uncertainty, to have enormous resources.
The former Tottenham and Southampton manager has signed a two-year deal with an option to extend the season. Another sign that Chelsea have learned from their experience with Potter, he was immediately offloaded on an expensive five-year deal. Pochettino’s first trophies as manager were won in France, but most of him will associate it with his last job in England – at Tottenham, with whom he finished in the top three three times Premier League and reached the Champions League final in 2019.
Pochettino has tactical flexibility, but will have plenty of wiggle room at Chelsea given the Londoners’ bloated squad and huge money. Here it is important for the Argentine to immediately decide on the carrier and clean up the team in the right way, without leaving any lagging mines that can then ruin the season. Well-known European football pundit Guillem Balague said:
What Pochettino could learn from PSGit is the need to regain control of the situation and be actively involved in all processes. He enjoyed working with Spurs players, and he was no longer in Paris. It is important for him to have the energy to get the attention of the players, it is important to understand that they are listening to him. He understands that Chelsea need to control the agenda as much as possible – this Pochettino could not achieve PSG. And it’s very important to communicate to everyone that this is not going to be a quick process. In addition to large sums of money, a lot of time is always required.
Concerns about available time are central to this story. Chelsea’s new management has not yet proved patient. But we see that in many other ways the lessons of the chaotic first season have been learned. Perhaps the lesson of patience will also be learned.
