Does Roman Abramovich need to change his Chelsea approach?

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We all know empires will eventually fall, but even the mega rich Roman Abramovich could not have suspected Chelsea’s dramatic drop this year.  Since the Russian oil tycoon bought the club in 2003, Chelsea have embarked on an era of commercial development and domestic dominance to become one the biggest clubs in Europe. This season, however, has been a bleak footnote, on an otherwise triumphant 12 years. From being labelled the beginning of a dynasty last season, to now likely missing out on Champions League football- for the first time during the Abramovich era- Chelsea face somewhat of a crucial moment in their history.

While many argued that consistency and stability are the key to success, Abramovich worked his way through 12 managers while collecting every trophy there is. Chelsea ran on chaos, and it’s worked. In the the 98 years before Abramovich, Chelsea had won 15 trophies, in the 13 years since he took over, they’ve won 12. Chelsea reached their pinnacle by winning the Champions League, but the landscape of football has drastically changed since then. No longer are Chelsea the biggest players at the table, and no longer is the “special one”, seemingly that special.

The long awaited return of Mourinho was heralded as the beginning of a new era for Chelsea. Gone were the yearly sackings of managers and in came a man who was seemingly unsackable. Or not. After countless fines, the loss of the dressing room, and probably the worst of all, the Eva Carneiro incident, the King of Chelsea was ushered out of the King’s road.

In Mourinho’s wake, the ever calm and likable Guus Hiddink was appointed, and he has steadied the ship for the club. Considering where Chelsea were, Hiddink has been superb. The Blues now sit 10th and were unbeaten in the league until Saturday’s defeat at Swansea. The Dutchman has removed the negativity in the squad and papered over the cracks. He’s done his job, and done it well.

Now however, Abramovich must change the fabric of the club. Football has changed since 2003, and the Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain was a prime example. In the past two seasons Chelsea have played PSG twice, and twice they have been knocked out, but this year’s game proved one important thing- Chelsea couldn’t match PSG in any regard. A few years ago this might not have been the case.

The old guard of Lampard, Cole, Drogba, Cech and soon to be Terry, are all gone. Moreover, Cahill looks past his best and it is unsure if star man Eden Hazard will still be wearing Chelsea blue next year. With the increased competition and shared wealth of the Premier League now, Chelsea could ill afford to continue with the managerial merry go round that they have mastered over the last few years. What is needed now, is a manager who can build a squad and is given time to do so, and with appointment of Antonio Conte, this might just happen.

Termed the “Italian Mourinho” by those in the know, Conte is a man who is intense, tactically superb and will demand full commitment from his team. At Juventus, Conte operated on the mantra that his players must “eat grass”, which on the face of it seems laughable, but this is the concept that Abramovich must allow Conte to cultivate and embed at Chelsea- a non-stop, intense team way of playing.   

Conte’s high demands do come with matching rewards though. He restored Juventus to the top of Italian football, winning three scudettos on the way. In one season the team were unbeaten and in his last they broke the 100 point margin. His brash and obsessive personality won trophies, and the trust from his players. As Carlos Tevez once said, playing for Conte, is like “the university of football”, or as Andrea Pirlo said “[His words] They crash through the doors of your mind. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve said: ‘Hell, Conte said something really spot-on again today.”

Furthermore, Conte does not care about age, only the player’s desire to win. Ability is one thing, but work ethic is another, and in the last year or two, it seems Chelsea have added neither. Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Ryan Bertrand could arguably walk into the current starting eleven. Moreover, Chelsea have wasted their superb youth system. Despite it being dominant for years, we have only seen Loftus-Cheek, and to a smaller extent Bertrand Traore emerge into the first team. There is a rich batch of talent waiting to be put to use at Chelsea, all malleable and potential disciples for Conte.

The road back to the top is going to be hard for Chelsea. Guus Hiddink has mitigated against the descent and helped the club through its transitional stage. The next few years are key. While other clubs might outperform Chelsea, Abramovich must resist pulling the trigger. If Conte is given time, they will see that they have manager who can’t stand losing just as much as their owner.

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