Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville on Chelsea's "bizarre" and "chaotic" summer, treatment of Trevoh Chalobah and Conor Gallagher, recruitment of a 35-player first-team squad and midfield issues from Sunday's defeat to Man City
Wednesday 21 August 2024 07:56, UK
After another "chaotic" summer at Stamford Bridge, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher lay out the "bizarre" problems Chelsea have brought upon themselves.
At the time of writing the Blues have a first-team squad of 35 players - including six goalkeepers - and look set to add Joao Felix to their ranks before the end of the transfer window.
The potential departures of homegrown duo Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah are likely to help reduce that number, but both are being pushed towards the exit door rather than leaving by their own volition.
A topsy-turvy pre-season off the pitch was added to by an opening-day 2-0 defeat by Man City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, and speaking on Monday Night Football Carra and Neville explained their biggest bugbears about the Todd Boehly era.
"One thing we do know is they have recruited badly. There are players they bought two years ago who they are already trying to get rid of. It feels chaotic and bizarre some of the contract lengths being given.
"I ask the question quite regularly; what is it they know that the rest of football doesn't know? Smart clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Arsenal, Man City - what do this group of owners know that the rest of football doesn't?
"I'm still asking that question and still haven't got the answer. You relate it to things like amortisation, FFP, sustainability rules - no it's not. Cole Palmer, nine-year contract, he was already at the club. There's no real benefit there, it doesn't help with sustainability.
"Chalobah, a player who came through the ranks, got another contract for six or seven years. They now want him out. So these are alarm bells about how they are treating players to get them out.
"We will love great football if it does work. I think they could have a decent season, if the coach gets on the right side of it. He's going to have to manage, not just coach, it's a very difficult club and always has been.
"He's got a lot of talented players, but there's all these players - six goalkeepers. Sanchez looked like a nervous wreck on Sunday.
"That might be because of what he's being asked to do with the playing style, but it might also be because he's got goalkeepers all around him. There's five of them next to him. There is obviously unease in the dressing room."
"Chelsea have just got to stop buying players, and players have got to stop signing for Chelsea. If I was a player, I'd think 'why I would sign?'.
"The only reason you would sign is because your agent might say, 'we're getting a seven-year deal on big money, that's guaranteed money for seven years.
"You know what I would say? Back yourself, sign a four-year deal at a proper club. When you're due for renewal, your money goes up anyway.
"It's not a young and exciting team. They've bought Joao Felix, where's he going to play? They signed Pedro Neto a week ago, where's he going to play when you've got Cole Palmer already?
"Where would you play Enzo Fernandez, a £100m player? Where would you play Christopher Nkunku?
"Great football teams need competition, but every team I played in there were seven or eight players who knew they were playing every week.
"There were six or seven players fighting for three positions, and another six or seven who knew they were squad players. That's a healthy squad.
"You want to ask about where Joao Felix is going to play, I've got another question - where's he going to get changed at the training ground?
"How are all these players in one dressing room? How are you putting on a training session?"
"I run a football club and know how challenging and difficult it is, it's a different level but it's hard work. Recruitment is the most difficult skill. I wouldn't criticise them for being bold and going and signing players.
"What I would say is when you're treating Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah and people who have been at the club since they were kids, trying to get them out and force them out, that's heartbreaking.
"Imagine if that was what was happening at my club? I'd be absolutely devastated. There are certain things that are happening that are wrong. They have signed a lot of young players that are talented on young contracts.
"You don't need to sign players on eight or nine-year deals to control them. You absolutely don't. Because if the player fails, you will find it difficult to get rid of them. If a player succeeds, they will want a new contract anyway."
"You think about the Rodri effect we've talked about with Man City. You look at that midfield three, really good players - Enzo Fernandez, won the World Cup and Copa America, Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo, both wanted by Liverpool. No-one would've doubted their recruitment.
"I really wanted them to harrass City's midfield, unnerve them, get against Silva, De Bruyne and Kovacic. Silva ran off them from the first minute, De Bruyne was all over the place and they never got near him.
"A 22-year-old average age of midfield that Chelsea had, I would have expected them to have more sprints, higher distance, more turnovers and pressures with the possession Man City have.
"There were some warning signs for that three in midfield for Chelsea. I'm not wholly negative about Chelsea off the back of Sunday, they could have a good season and they have a lot of very good players.
"But that midfield has to succeed when you spend that level of money on players. He has to make it work, I don't know how it does because I don't think Fernandez is suited to playing as a No 10 and Cole Palmer should play there.
"On Sunday, Lavia was very good, but Caicedo and Fernandez have to find a way of playing and Maresca has to find a way to get them into the team. I wanted more from them, not necessarily on the ball but more difficult to play against.
"Even without Rodri, Man City were well on top of them and that's a worry."
