“Conte has spent large parts of the season in the familiar posture of wronged superstar manager, another Chelsea coach whose only failing is the failure of others to spend adequately on his command, betrayed by the human clay at his disposal.”    Barney Ronay (The Guardian)

If ever there was a sentence that sums up Antonio Conte's end game stance on all matters Chelsea this surely is it. Frankly, he has worn the mantle of wronged superstar manager for far too long and for many of us Shed Enders it has begun to wear a little thin. His own truth of the matter, which has been given media airings at every opportunity, often when we as a club were at out lowest ebb, is that the team have sadly reached the level at which it deserved to be. Hmm, no thoughts then as to how we got there or who might be responsible, merely a resigned acceptance of the situation and an undercurrent of defeatism engendered before players even step on the pitch for the next game. Should he now up and walk, as is widely predicted, blame will fall on many but few will be as guilty as the man himself who has glowered us into this depressive season-long state of limbo. Yet is it really all down to a sullen mix of lacklustre management, or erratic performances on the pitch intermingled with boardroom intervention of the worst kind? As, hopefully, wholesale change now fast tracks us into a self-fulfilling prophecy my take on the primary reason for our decline has fluctuated between all three wise-during-the-event conclusions, but I've settled on something completely different as the catalyst for it all, epitomised in that irksome parrot-fashion homage always paid to 'the importance of the team', a mantra mouthed by all the usual suspects, trotted out as a The Great Need To Have regardless of whether it has just referenced a below par performance or fine individual goal scored, yet repeated ad nauseam and without any true understanding of the meaning of the words. Let me explain.

When JT left for the Villa true leadership went out transfer window with him and try as good servants might, notably Gary Cahill and Dave, nobody has stepped into his shoes with any degree of purpose or assuredness. Hardly surprising really, so good a leader by example is he and therefore it may seem odd to begin my reasoning with an admittance that we were clearly going to struggle in his absence whoever took over. But throughout his career it has been JT's ability to unify the team in ever-changing circumstances that made him stand out from the crowd. As a young captain he earned the respect of more senior world class overseas players in his midst than he had a right to and as he grew into the job from 2004/5 onwards he oversaw and kept control of a number of factions within the various groups of players under his command. The early Italian and French influence of Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola, Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf stood him in good stead and latterly, when the Brazilian, Spanish and Belgian contingents held sway, he gained their respect and marshalled the spirit of camaraderie and teamwork that is acknowledged as the hallmark of his captaincy and is currently evidenced in his leadership of Villa to the brink of a Premier League return. 

With hindsight it can be seen that his final year with us, albeit not on the field of play but behind the scenes, was just as pivotal as those that went before and the part he played in our last title-winning season should never be underestimated. To be fair, Antonio was at pains to point this out as he took his own plaudits, but more significantly it soon became clear that without his unifying presence those factions were going to grate, like tectonic plates prior to a quake. And let's face it, Diego Costa could grate with the best of them, at any place and at any time, so whether you believe that he, along with several others, simply stopped playing for Jose it matters not because he wasn't going to be given the chance to disrupt Conte's glum iron fist of a second season. Once Diego was done for it was left to others to rumble and grumble in his wake, David Luiz was soon sidelined, Edin Hazard false nined into submission and annoyance, then suddenly all 'the team' talk started to sound trite and hollow, no more than mere froth atop our small beer campaign. We began to drift like a rudderless ship, no JT to knock some sense back into a squad that has periodically shown no real inclination to give a s**t, symbolised in a team seemingly lacking both passion and character. In short, the players appear bored of Conte's methods, lacking the motivation to consistently produce the goods.

Admittedly, fragmentation of this kind has gone on throughout the Abramovich years, but tensions haven't surfaced quite so much as in this last post-JT season, when clique bait has been at its most prevalent and even then those incumbent larger-than-life managerial figures, Jose and Antonio, glum and glummer, couldn't stem a rising tide of undermining factions. Sorely missed indeed, Steve Bruce hit the nail on the head at the weekend when he said the following about his captain:-

“It wasn't just on the pitch that I needed John, it was to deal with the dressing-room and it has been toxic for years. It was important people like Grealish could see someone: this is how you do it, the way you look after yourself, this is what you prepare for.When you hear [how to do it] from a top pro... it's a cultural change.”

And it is at this point that I have somwhat belatedly reached my concluding thoughts, my reasoning to be cheerful and enthusiastic for the future of my club. Subject, of course, to our picking the right coach to put us back on track (Powers That Be please choose a Jardim or a Sarri and not another superstar manager) the opportunity is there for the right man to take full advantage of what will be our own unique set of circumstances when you compare us to our domestic rivals next season ....

Not since Fergies Fledglings has a Premier League club had such an abundance of young talented players within Chelsea's Under-18s, Development Squad and Loaned Out Army, all predominately home grown and crucially faction-free. A comparison made between the makeup of the first team squad and the rest is stark and revealing, not in any discriminatory sense, but purely seen from the point of view of a whole host of young British players brought up as a group from the earliest age and being comfortable playing together in a variety of successful trophy-winning teams over a number of seasons. Fact, as Rafa would say, is that taken as a percentage our first team squad has a meagre 16% British contingent within its ranks compared with the On Loans at 50%, the Development Squad on 77% and the Under-18s at a massive 82%, so whether by luck or judgement the undoubted trend is away from a steady influx of foreign talent and towards that 'importance of the team' mantra as embodied in an almost entirely British player-based future for the club.

These percentages provide clear proof of an upward home grown cultural curve that is in complete contrast to the policies pursued by our rivals. Man City may give more than mere lip service to the promotion of youth through an Academy system, but only a lonely Phil Foden looks likely to reach first team status and Jadon Sancho had to move to Borussia Dortmund to fulfill his potential, a job he is seemingly well capable of doing, the 18-year-old having already had four assists in six starts since leaving the Etihad. Meanwhile, over on the red side of Manchester, preference is given to the purchase of Alexis Sanchez at phenominal expense, resulting in an immediate stunting of Marcus Rashford's growth both at club and international level. Only Spurs seem to have paid serious attention to the youth development principle and a completion of its course, yet a lack silverware under Pochettino in the last four years seems certain to undermine a laudable attempt. His latest press offering tells us all we need to know about his frustrations:-

“We cannot invest crazy money. It will be important to create a different idea to try to move on and to be closer to winning titles in the next few years.”

Chelsea will soon follow them with regard to Wembley residency and should we also pursue a likeminded policy on the introduction of home grown players into the first team squad, then add further layers to it year-on-year (the point at which Spurs are now and look like abononing in principle) we could be in for a similar period of pot poverty, but surely this would be a price worth paying if the long term gains that home grown faction-free team spirit brings enables us to challenge Mancunian dominance. After all, if the future holds nothing for us other than endless seasons in the shade, being continually outspent in the transfer market, snubbed by the superstars, misrepresented by the Media and generally misunderstood by a general public constantly misled by the pundits and gossipmongers aplenty, what other way forward is there? To quote Barney Ronay once again ...

“Never before has the gap between the richest and the poorest been so stark. Much hand-wringing has been devoted to this process over the last quarter century but this season feels like a significant point of departure, with the summit that separates the richest and most powerful disappearing up through the clouds and out of sight.”

Make no mistake, if City and United are to be the only 'above the clouds' clubs in the Premier League it will be a poorer place for it competitively with the gap between those self-indulgent 'have' twins and the remaining 'have nots' continuing to widen. Something needs to give in order to prevent an impending stasis becoming the status quo. Spurs tried harder than most, but Potch's best laid plans have pooped. It is different at Chelsea, the development pipeline flows on unabated and unabashed, everywhere other than into the first team, but anyone who has watched these lads progress will know that the quality is there, improving all the time and leadership skills are instilled in many, in Reece James and Mason Mount in particular, while the likes of Ethan Ampadu, Trevoh Chalobah, Jake Clarke-Salter, Dujon Sterling, Marc Guehi, Jon Panzo and Callum Hudson-Odoi also have the build and ability to succeed at the highest level sooner rather than later. So please Roman, it is the right time for so many reasons... make it happen.

 

Edited May 14, 20188 yr by Dorset

Brilliant post.

i would love for this to happen , i have been watching these youth come through for the last 6 years and i get more satisfaction watching these wiining cups and leagues then watching the first team sometimes. I think it will bring the team closer to the fans . Hopefully most fans will feel there is a project going on and will allow time for the players to develop and not get on their backs

Ask Christensen about that Adzio.

I don't believe our Under-18 team is faction-free. Group dynamics are par for the course. This group probably has different issues for their faction forming than our senior team, but I'm sure they're there. They're more successful despite that, so things work for them.