This wasn’t how it was meant to be. When Roman Abrahmovich purchased Chelsea in July 2003, chairman Ken Bates remarked how the Russian would take the club, “to the next level”.
Given the Blues were already a very good Premier League side and had been two-time FA Cup winners over the previous six years, presumably Bates meant sustained domestic and European success.
But it’s never really turned out that way. Chelsea have won four league titles but bar 2004-06 have been unable to truly dominate over a significant period of time. Victory in the 2012 Champions League final against a Bayern Munich team far superior over the 120 minutes, a penalty shootout defeat to Manchester United in the 2008 Moscow final and six semi-final appearances, plus the Europa League crown in 2013 represents continental success but probably not on the scale Abramovich envisaged.
Now the Russian’s team will be absent from the Champions League next season for the first time since his historic takeover. Wednesday’s exit to Paris Saint-Germain was as insipid as it was inevitable. Perhaps symbolically, Chelsea were outplayed by a team forged in the same manner they have been over the last 13 years.
The decline from convincing Premier League champions is nearly as remarkable as Leicester’s transformation this season. With last night’s FA Cup exit, their season is now officially over and we’re only two weeks into March.
The rot has set in from a number of sources: there have been external factors such as Manchester City and the newly-realised strength of the likes of Tottenham and Leicester, widening the field.
But internally, Jose Mourinho’s poisoning of the dressing room environment left a squad disaffected; a lack of investment in the summer to freshen up an ageing team, coupled with Mourinho’s previous decisions to jettison Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Ryan Bertrand (albeit for good money); and then many of the players themselves simply not delivering to a level befitting of their talent, has left Antonio Conte with some serious surgery to do.
Conte will also only take over after Italy’s involvement in Euro 2016, which could be any date between June 23 and July 11. Like the last manager to move from an international tournament to one of England’s biggest clubs, Louis van Gaal, he doesn’t have a lot of time.
The situation surrounding Eden Hazard needs addressing. The Belgian was the Premier League’s best last season and arguably among the world’s best 5-10 individuals. Now he looks like he doesn’t even belong in the starting XI. His attitude against PSG only emphasised his disconnect with the club. Either Conte tries to recapture the lost form – and there’s plenty of it – or the club looks for suitors – and there will be plenty of them.
Can he get Nemanja Matic back to his best? What of Cesc Fabregas, Thibaut Courtois, Branislav Ivanovic and Diego Costa (although admittedly they’ve improved under Guus Hiddink)? But with no Champions League football, how many of that group will try to manipulate moves away?
John Terry appears to be going which leaves their centre-back options as Gary Cahill, Ivanovic and a host of talented early-twentysomethings headlined by Kurt Zouma. It all adds up to a summer where the reset button is being pushed. That “next level” may have to wait for a few more years yet.
