I really wish I made a list of all the former Chelsea players, former players, pundits, journalists, managers and fans who have said that this current Chelsea team needs experience and balance added to it. The list would be SO long.
Anyways, we have three more people to add to that list today, one might not be the most popular name when it comes to Chelsea punditry, although he is also predicting that we make the Champions League places this season. By the way, and this will probably come back to bite me in the butt, I actually think we beat Liverpool today believe it or not…..
Danny Murphy:
“This Champions League race will go down to the wire. My feeling is Chelsea will just squeeze in, the beneficiaries of fifth place being good enough this season and a slump in form from Nottingham Forest, whom they meet on the final day at the City Ground.”
He also makes a really good point on Chelsea’s transfer activity and says it needs to be more flexible.
“Some of the younger Chelsea players will improve next season as they learn but I still don’t think the team can take a major step forward unless they show flexibility in their transfer model and bring in some experience to help the younger players.”
Say it louder, Danny so that the Chelsea owners and sporting directors can hear you at the back. Actually, let’s let Ian Wright say it louder, he’s got a voice on him!
Ian Wright:
“Remember they signed Thiago Silva a few years ago, they need experience. I think the midfield and defence, they do need an experienced player to let them know what’s going on on the pitch and calm them down.”
Ex pro-s who have actually played the game, former Chelsea players, pundits, fans, might actually be onto something here…. (please sense sarcasm).
And when the current head coach starts questioning recruitment and asking for more experience, then the club has two choices. Take his requests and action them, or move on yet another manager like they did with Mauricio Pochettino last season when he did exactly the same thing and asked for more experience in his squad.
I wrote an article last week asking whether Maresca had a dig at the owners by questioning the recruitment, and I now have zero doubts that this is exactly what he was doing.
Asked about the gap between the two sides compared to earlier in the campaign, Maresca said: “In terms of the gap [between Chelsea and Liverpool], it is there, you can see this clearly.
“My feeling is we are [moving] in the right direction and hopefully this gap can be smaller and smaller and smaller.
“The difference is they have been consistent compared to us. For part of the season we were very good, and then we lost some games. This has probably been the main reason why.
“And also in terms of experienced players that know how to win games and these kinds of things, I think they have something more compared to us.”
Maresca did not rule out adding more experience to his squad in the transfer market this summer.
“For sure, if you want to close the gap with these kind of clubs then, for sure, you have to do things,” he said on the possibility of adding experience this summer.
So there you have it folks, Maresca point blankly saying Chelsea need to add experience to their squad this summer.
Todd, Behdad, Paul, and Laurence, over to you…
I do wonder what happens at the end of this season, I still have a feeling that Maresca could decide to walk. He has the fans against him, many of whom will never accept his brand of football. He has many of the players not enjoying playing under him. He is questioning the recruitment and asking for more experience. He snaps back at fans and at reporters in most press conferences. I’ve just seen and lived this all before. This isn’t based on any info, just something I feel could happen. But we’ll see.
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