This might be a bit controversial. It was a tough one to write, but I’m glad I did.
I was searching on Newsnow earlier for some ideas about what to write about. I prefer not to write about things that have been discussed endlessly, unless I think I have something to add, and in the case of the Chelsea news of yesterday, I think its been done. I read a few comments on a few forums and had a think. What concerns me is some of the rhetoric now streaming out of the keyboards of our fanbase, and its this I’d like to talk about today.
Some of you are talking like getting Jose back guarantees us the title next season.
While I recognise with as much joy as anyone the huge step forward the wonderful Portuguese represents in the chase for the top prize in England, lets not get ahead of ourselves here.
We’re Chelsea. We don’t do things the easy way.
I’ve got this waking dream that we go to Liverpool end of April 2014 and lift the title after a businesslike 3-0 win, forcing the Mickey Mousers to applaud us off the pitch and then again when we lift the trophy. Well, I say waking dream, its more like a hot and steamy sexual fantasy actually. The idea of it actually makes me physically aroused, I start to flush and my breathing gets shallow and quickens. Sweaty palms, the fackin’ lot. I suspect i’m not alone in this!
Anyway, I digress. The point I’m trying to make is that right now, its a daydream – and we shouldn’t expect too much too soon. We were well off the pace in the Premiership last season and not all of that was down to The Interim One. I think its a case of how full you view the glass.
My Dad, who most of you will know is beyond ‘uncanny’ and well into the realms of ‘scary’ when it comes to predicting and assessing the goings on at Chelsea (and yes, he did correctly predict us winning the Europa League and coming third!) thinks we’re three or four players away from not just a title winning side but a generation defining side. Having the pleasure and honour of watching Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, David Luiz, Oscar and the rest every week last season I completely agree with him. But that’s still three or four players – it depends how you say it.
We’re either very close or miles away.
My view is that we’ll almost certainly see most if not all of those missing three or four top players this summer, but the names they are likely to oust from the first team squad means we could lack a bit of experience. We may not see the very, very best of the likes of Hazard, Mata and definitely Oscar for a few seasons yet and much as the club is developing and growing, so are they. Wonderful players though they are, they are not the finished article yet.
There seems to be a rush to dispense with old stalwarts like Cole, Terry, Essien and a few others (decide for yourself whether Lamps is in this list) and there are clear signs that certainly in two of those four cases, the club is moving toward ‘the future’ – ie: kids and new signings to progressively take over.
I guess what I’m getting at is that Jose has inherited a team very much in a transition period. Its the natural cycle of youth-experience-youth-experience that all teams go through.
I get very worried when i see our own fans boldly predicting we’ll win the lot over the coming few seasons. We wont.
We’re changing and growing and although the team is absolutely stunningly talented and capable of some of the best football many of us have ever been privileged enough to witness at the Bridge, we’re by no means the finished article yet. I suspect we will only truly begin to see the potential of the crop of players we have now in two or even three seasons time. Jose is a master at developing and training players to fulfil their potential and as I’ve said before the idea of just how good the likes of Mata, Oscar, Chalobah, Ake, Luiz and Hazard and others could ultimately be under his tutelage is almost limitless.
A mate of mine Ramon (Twitter – @mowingmeadows) says he thinks Oscar could surpass Lampard, Zola, Bentley, Tambling, Osgood and the rest as Chelsea’s all time greatest player given the time and space to grow. I’m not one to heap praise on players unduly but I actually agree with him. He’s got the lot. He’s nowhere near ready yet but he’s got it all. Key to all this of course is patience and this sort of goes to the theme of this SOTN. Patience is key.
Some commentators have noted a key change in Jose’s demeanour this time round and remarked on his willingness to discuss staying for a long time and building an empire. I cant tell you how happy that makes me to hear that and i suspect it resonates similarly with you as well.
What i really hope is that Roman now sees Chelsea as something approaching the Euro leviathan he was trying to build. That competing in all trophies every season and landing a decent number of them with class and sportsmanship and a sense of identity behind everything we do, he is content. Well if he isnt, i think he should be. Mind you had I stuck bets on half my Dad’s predictions over the last three or four years i’d have more money than Mr A and for my billion or so squid I wouldnt want anyone telling me what i should be content with!
Even so, sacking Jose for not winning a trophy I would hope is something he has learned that we cannot and should not do. Churlish i know to even discuss sackings the day after Jose comes back, but I hope its a sentiment you can agree with.
And so, finally, I get to my point.
If Jose is here to build empires and put down roots, let’s not burden the bloke with expectations.
An editorial yesterday asked – ‘What’s the minimum you expect from Jose’s first season?’
An alarming number of posters were talking about the title nailed on for next season and not just winning the CL but how many times over the next few years. If supporting the Chels for as long as i have has taught me anything other than Singha Beer have some very, very, very good looking hostesses, it is that we do not do things the easy way here. We never have, never will. Just when you think we’re nailed on to win something is right when disaster strikes. So lets not kick the arse out of it please?
I actually think we’re at a stage now where competing well in everything we can win whilst building a sustainable base for the Jose / Roman Empire moving forward is more than enough for me. I don’t expect trophies, and i certainly do not feel entitled to them, although there is every chance we will be treated to some silverware over the next few seasons – it isnt guaranteed and Jose’s reign here cannot and should not be defined by trophies this time.
Team building first, trophies later.
CAREFREE.
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