How is Chelsea doing?

With the Roman Abramovich Empire crashing down amidst Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the UK Government’s desire to freeze the domestic assets of prominent Russian figures, Chelsea Football Club was left in need of a new leadership hierarchy that would sustain and build upon a two-decade legacy of silverware laden success. Unfortunately for Chelsea fans the climb back to the top has been far harder, and slower, than fans had hoped for. That said, finishing last season under Mauricio Pochettino with five wins from five topped off what was a strong 2024, and demonstrably proved that within this squad, real talent is there. 

If Chelsea had maintained their second half of the season form throughout the course of the whole season, the Blues would have finished in the top 4. Now, with Enzo Maresca at the helm, and with the key players in the squad a little further into their Chelsea career, things look much brighter for the two-time Champions League winners. Then, as of 30 May 2022, a consortium of investors led by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly having only a 12.8% stake the same as allies and fellow billionaires Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss and private equity giant Clearlake Capital co-founded by Behdad Eghbali and José E. Felicianol stepped into the role of running Chelsea. 

The Current Chelsea Structure

Now, if you’re remotely interested in Premier League football, then you likely will have at least a strong foundational understanding as to what has happened to Chelsea since the end of May 2022, predominantly characterised by a transfer strategy that even the most keen Football Manager players rarely implement. In short, Chelsea Football Club is an entirely new entity, with the similarity to the previous ownership and iteration of the club being the badge and colours that adorn the club shirts. 

Much has been made of the disharmony between Boehly and Clearlake over the last month. Todd Boehly, initially placing himself as Sporting Director, oversaw the incoming of, to name a few, Raheem Sterling, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Kalidou Koulibaly whilst also leading the charge that saw Thomas Tuchel leave the club and Graham Potter join. Not great. However, following the harrowing twelfth place finish under Potter, the lowest Chelsea have ever placed in the Premier League, Boehly remained involved. Having dressed down the squad following their loss to Brighton, and with Potter swiftly leaving, Boehly alongside Eghbali, opted to hire Mauricio Pochettino. 

Boehly stepped down as sporting director in January 2023 being replaced by former Brighton duo Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart leading to Eghbali gaining control over the on-field business. Following the turbulence of last season under the Argentinian, Boehly opted for patience towards the manager, whilst Eghbali, Winstanley, and Stewart conducted a two day review which led to the former Spurs manager leaving the club on the back of a very strong second half of the season despite the League Cup defeat. 

The Clearlake side of the “Chelsea project” insist that the rampant spending which has seen the West London club splash £1.5 billion over five transfer windows will calm down now Enzo Maresca is in place and seemingly more aligned with their vision for the future of Chelsea. Todd Boehly et al are not aligned with the Clearlake vision, leading to what has been teemed a culture-clash between the two ownership structures. Eghbali prefers a more hands on (some might say micro-managerial) approach. Boehly points to his hands off approach throughout his other sporting ventures that have generated success - which makes more sense given his poor track record at Chelsea when in a hands-on position. 

As of the time of writing, there is no resolution to these issues. Clearlake are the majority owners, and are happy in that position. Unless Boehly et al can put together a buy-out package, which seems unlikely, then there may be a resolution. Likewise, Clearlake could buyout Boehly and his other minority stakeholders. Currently, nothing has changed. 

Chelsea’s Coaching Staff

Former Leicester City and Pep Guardiola acolyte Enzo Maresca has taken the role of Head Coach following the highly-debated departure of now USMNT Manager Mauricio Pochettino following what was a turbulent, but much-needed season of development. Maresca joined Chelsea following his success with Leicester City, leading the Foxes return to the Premier League following their shock relegation two seasons ago. Maresca's preferred formation is a 4-3-3 that can change into a 3-2-5 when the ball is in play. One of the two full backs, at Chelsea thus far given the ongoing injuries Captain Reece James is experiencing has meant it has often been Marc Cucurella or Malo Gusto, moves into central midfield, and the two No 8s move up to create a line of five.

When utilising three central defenders in the 3-2-5, Chelsea often utilise the goalkeeper who steps up to create an additional outlet and briefly creates a pseudo four-man defence. When pressing in the early stages of the opposition's build-up, Maresca's side uses a 4-4-2 pressing structure. The central midfielder advances to support the striker, who tries to cut off passing lanes through the centre. Currently, Chelsea’s young squad are still experiencing the growing pains of learning a new system, although most are technically gifted ball players who seemingly have adapted rather swiftly to the Italian’s tactical demands, and results are beginning to show this. As mentioned above, the ownership believes in the Maresca philosophy, as evidenced by their offering to him of a five year contract. As things stand, progress is looking positive.

The Squad 

Rival fans and provocative journalists spent too much time complaining about Chelsea’s strategy of buying a huge range of talent and overturning the entire squad from a few seasons ago. However, it seems as though an important aspect of modern football is missing from their criticisms of loopholes and financial unfairness. Chelsea’s financial situation has been explained by a collection of financial experts and for the sake of brevity, I will not go into the numbers in this piece. 

Players consistently speak in the media about playing too many games. It appears as though Chelsea have seen this, and are aware that the calendar isn’t going to shrink any time soon, and have made an early move to increase the quality of the squad as a whole, having game starters and finishers, meaning players are rarely overexerted and minutes are shared. This seems smart. This model reduces the likelihood of injuries which have plagued the club over the last two years, and allows the team to maintain pressure throughout the full 90 minutes. Additionally, an emphasis on rotation and minute sharing promotes a sense of togetherness and fair treatment meaning Chelsea’s many young players can develop within the confines of the first-team squad whilst not being under constant pressure. 

Of course, there are guaranteed starters. Cole Palmer is clearly Chelsea’s best player, which has complicated the roles of Christopher Nkunku and Joao Felix but that is how elite clubs want to work. Competition leads to the cream rising to the top, so far, that is Cole Palmer. Pedro Neto, Noni Madueke, Jadon Sancho and Mykhailo Mudryk are competing for wide spots, Nicolas Jackson has locked down the number 9 position, whilst Enzo Fernandes and Moises Caicedo have the midfield pivot starting positions, with the latter being absolutely exceptional for the entirety of 2024. Additionally, Maresca clearly planned to have Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill as the starting centre back partnership, although recent poor performances from Fofana and strong performances from Tosin Adarabioyo have called that into question. Chilwell is evidently not the flavour of the month, although has worked his way back into the wider team with Euro 2024 winner Marc Cucurella winning the manager and fans alike over. Reece James is still made of glass and, despite his apparent quality, his future seems slightly unknown given he is permanently injured at this point in his career. 

Importantly, Chelsea players are on very long and highly incentivised contracts. The average Premier League wage is roughly £72,000 a week. At Chelsea, the average wage is £60,000 with bonuses being a major part of every contract. This means Chelsea can balance a wage bill that once had Raheem Sterling earning north of £300,000 a week (one among many on huge contracts) and also allows the club to move players on should they not work out at Chelsea. Chelsea have struggled to sell players in recent times, opting for loans for their higher earners. Having players on a much lower base wage means that players are not financially blocked from moving in search of first team football should they want to. 

The Future

Chelsea have started to actually present a sense of cohesiveness under Maresca that perhaps wasn’t expected to happen so quickly. Additionally, the incoming Willian Esevao and Kendry Paez highlight that Chelsea are preparing to house potential world-class young talent and maintain that sense of competition within their ranks, how they manage these talents is yet to be seen, we can only assume there is a plan. Jadon Sancho is currently at his boyhood club on loan, a move that will almost certainly be made permanent at the end of the season. It is clear he is much happier at Chelsea than at Manchester United, themselves having a weird few years. Andrey Santos is now into his second year on loan at Strasbourg, performing outstandingly. At the time of writing, it appears as though the young Brazilian midfielder will join the Chelsea first team next season, rotating with Lavia and the others in those positions. Some players, naturally, will not make it. That is simply a facet of the game. 

There has also been plenty of chatter about Chelsea’s proposed move into a new stadium down the road at Earls Court. Increasing the capacity is key for the owners, and for Chelsea fans aware of the need to increase the number of match-going fans on a weekly basis. The Earls Court site is managed by Transport for London and real estate ­developer Delancey, with the plan currently proposed by both bodies for a mixed-use development, with no plans for a football stadium. The Earl’s Court Development Committee will be able to push ahead with their plans should they receive planning permission from the Hammersmith and Fulham council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council, which could be a major roadblock for Chelsea. It is the task of Jason Gannon, the Chelsea Chief Executive, to hopefully for the club, turn the tide. This is the current situation, changes may happen, but currently the state of play is this. 

Chelsea will continue to develop, and their investments into players will likely decrease as the ownership prepares to watch their investments hopefully flourish. As for the fans, the standards are still the same: win trophies and qualify for the Champions League. Plenty of fans understand this may not happen straight away, however, the goal is clear and fans will not accept anything less for much longer. Chelsea have been arguably the most fascinating club to keep an eye on over the last two years given that no club has behaved in such a way. Will it work? We shall see.