It would be an understatement to say that things are not going Chelsea’s way at this point in time. The club have slipped out of the Champions League qualification spots. They have won just one of their last seven Premier League games. Based on that form and their schedule, it is hard to imagine they are going to turn things around and qualify.
Liam Rosenior’s first three months in charge of Chelsea have been a nightmare. The Englishman had made a bright start but even then, there were question marks. A lot of those early wins had come as a result of individual brilliance and making comebacks after falling behind.
Chelsea have lost all five of their previous meetings with top division opponents. They have not scored in four of those games. Their only win in recent times has come against League One’s bottom side, Port Vale.
Naturally, it is not hard to understand why fans want the club to part ways with Rosenior already. He has not shown anything to suggest that he can succeed in this job. Time and patience have to be earned, not given without question. But, it does not look like BlueCo have any plans of sacking the manager. Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol wrote:
Chelsea’s position is that Rosenior is their head coach for the long term. They’re going to continue to back him, even if results aren’t great at the moment. They have faith in him.
They’re also planning on keeping him even if they don’t qualify for the Champions League.
Chelsea can’t afford to miss out on Champions League football
If you ask me, Chelsea are very unlikely to make the Champions League next season. They have a tough fixture list. On top of that, they are completely out of form.
This team looks uninspired and might have already given up. Their performances do suggest so. It feels like the final weeks of Graham Potter as Chelsea manager. Most fans feel things are headed nowhere. But do BlueCo?
Of course, we had heard similar briefings of the club backing Potter back then as well. But eventually, they did end up showing him the exit door when the results did not turn around. Will they do the same with Rosenior if he misses the Champions League qualification spots?
Chelsea cannot really afford it at the moment. As Solhekol wrote in the same report:
Chelsea’s parent company, BlueCo, released their accounts on Monday and they made losses of around £630m last year.
Missing out on the Champions League financially would cost Chelsea at least £100m. It is absolutely crucial that they qualify for the Champions League again.
Not just financially, of course, but the effect that it will have on their squad because players want to play in the Champions League.
If you’re not in the Champions League, it makes it more likely that players like Enzo Fernandez, for instance, will want to leave.
Also, it has a knock-on effect on the kind of players that you’re able to sign because players want to sign for clubs who are in the Champions League.
BlueCo might have painted Chelsea into a corner
Chelsea’s transfer model and recruitment have been poor for four seasons now. On top of that, they have not really gone out and brought in a top manager who could build a long-term project. When it looked like they had one in Enzo Maresca, he was sacked after rumours of a falling out behind the scenes.
Now, BlueCo might have painted the club into a corner with how things have been run these past four seasons. Is it even possible to fix things at Chelsea anytime soon? Or will it take years, even if the ownership changes it transfer policy? The damage might already be done.