“It is as bad as I have ever known it.”
This is how one veteran Chelsea employee, speaking anonymously to The Athletic in order to protect his job, describes the mood among the Chelsea players at present. This individual has worked at Stamford Bridge for many years so the assessment is one not to be taken lightly. Significantly, their sentiments have been echoed elsewhere by sources contacted in the process of compiling this article. All is not well.
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It should hardly come as a surprise. It would be more of a shock if the feeling was upbeat behind the scenes given the team have lost five games in succession, seen their last hope of silverware wrecked by defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League, and look likely to suffer the club’s lowest finish in the Premier League this century. The previous worst showing was 10th in 2016. The current team are six points adrift of the top half in 11th with six games to play.
As the club continue to work on appointing a new permanent head coach, with Mauricio Pochettino the firm favourite to be given the post, the reports of disquiet underline the scale of the task facing the next man at the helm.
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Bad results and performances will always cause morale to nosedive at any club. Yet, after talking to several sources in and around the camp, the impression lingers that it will take more than a few wins to galvanise the dressing room again.
So what are the problems?
The size of the squad is one significant factor. There are over 30 players reporting for training every day and it is an impossible task to keep everyone content in that situation, largely because so many will know they stand little to no chance of playing.
Players find themselves training with one group one day, and a different set of team-mates the next, with no semblance of continuity as coaching staff attempt to instruct them all. With six fixtures to play, 33 players have made appearances for the senior team this season. No wonder Chelsea have not looked like a cohesive unit for most of the campaign.
Notably, veteran Thiago Silva spoke about the level of discontent after Chelsea’s 2-0 loss to Real Madrid last week. “It’s a hard period for the club, with a lot of indecision,” he said. “Change of ownership, new players arriving — we had to increase the size of the changing room because it didn’t fit the size of the squad.
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“A positive point is that there are amazing players in the squad but, on the other hand, there are always players that are going to be unhappy. There is always going to be someone upset because not everyone can play.
“The manager can only pick 11 from a squad of 30-something — that’s tough. Some can’t make the squad. We signed eight in January. We need to stop and put a strategy in place otherwise next season we could make the same mistakes.”
Spending over £500million on 16 new signings — Malo Gusto and Andrey Santos will officially join in the summer — while also taking Joao Felix and Denis Zakaria on loan served to demonstrate the ambition of the new ownership, but the disruption has hardly helped. The vast majority of the additions arrived after pre-season — such a crucial period to build relationships and understanding — was over.
There is concern that the numbers could swell even larger ahead of the next pre-season. A deal is agreed for RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku, Gusto and Santos are joining up, and others who spent this season out on loan are due to report back to the Cobham training ground. That group includes Romelu Lukaku, Levi Colwill, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ian Maatsen.
However, it has been well documented that Chelsea will be looking to cut the size of the squad this summer.
One of the reasons is to make it more manageable, but there is a financial incentive, too, due to financial fair play regulations. The aim will be to sell individuals on contracts entering their last year and who have indicated a reluctance to renew. Even so, there is a risk a player decides to run their deal down if they do not secure the move they want. The club will consider selling those with two years left on their deals as well, especially if a good offer is made for their services.
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A scenario where several players could leave is never conducive to an upbeat atmosphere. Chelsea are well within their rights to consider whether some in the squad have a future at Stamford Bridge given how poorly the side have been performing. But it is not just the club looking to part ways. The Athletic has been told that several squad members want to leave. Not all of those concerned fit into the “12 months left on their contract” scenario.
Chelsea have handed out long contracts stretching beyond five years to several players. Some of those were already at the club when the takeover was completed almost a year ago. Many of the new signings have been secured on these long-term deals.
Yet sources close to senior players, who will remain anonymous to protect relationships, suggest some are already starting to express regret at having committed to such a lengthy term.
That some of the signings who arrived over the past 12 months are a little disillusioned is understandable. As part of the negotiation process they would have been under the impression they were going to be key parts of an exciting project. That may still come to pass, but there has been very little evidence of it yet. Neither have many of them become first-team regulars yet. They have spent more time among the substitutes or not involved at all, with interim head coach Frank Lampard having stressed players are being picked on the basis of how they train.
Most of those who have agreed new contracts since the new ownership came in agreed a clause which would see their wages drop by a minimum of 30 per cent if Chelsea do not qualify for the Champions League — which will be the case next season. The reality of that situation is just hitting home.
There is a group of players who are not affected by such cutbacks because they are still on the contracts signed under the previous regime. The policy under the current hierarchy was only adopted after the club had already signed Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly last July, so it does not apply to them either.
As one of the sources referred to above tells The Athletic: “That situation is hardly going to help harmony within the group. You’ll have some players paying the price financially for the bad results this season, and some who are not.”
Chelsea will rightly argue that the players agreed to these contracts and they would not be in this situation had the side had performed on the pitch to maintain their place in the Champions League. Regardless, it has added to the sense of unrest.
To acknowledge the number of head coaches who have overseen Chelsea games this season has not helped matters would be an understatement.
The club have been through four. Thomas Tuchel (seven matches), Graham Potter (31), Bruno Saltor (one) and Lampard (five) have all watched on from the dugout, flanked by various assistants. Lampard was named caretaker for the rest of the season when Potter was dismissed at the start of April, with Bruno having taken charge of that goalless draw with Liverpool. Yet, even with Lampard in place as a stopgap, uncertainty over what happens next persists.
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There is only so much he can say and do under the circumstances. That is why the announcement over the next full-time head coach cannot come soon enough.
Silva did highlight that it will not be as simple as that though. “We can’t be blaming the managers if we don’t take responsibility,” he added.
“Everybody talks too much about replacing managers. I think we, as players, must also take responsibility. We have had three managers this season, plus a fourth with Bruno where we failed to win. With Lampard, we have failed to win. Everybody is talking about the manager but we must look at what has been done wrong and try to change.”
The co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have been regular visitors to the training ground and the dressing room this season. Having invested so much, no one can accuse them of lacking commitment to the cause.
But some of the visits after games have raised eyebrows, particularly the much-publicised drop-in by Boehly after the recent home loss to Brighton. Lampard had already given the group a stern talking-to when Boehly walked in and held court. The co-owner, seeking to coax more from the group, suggested the team’s performances had not matched their quality or pedigree. The players had not made the anticipated contribution. A few of the signings made in the past 12 months were singled out during his speech.
It should be pointed out that Lampard said he did not have a problem with Boehly’s actions. He has since spoken about liking “the passion” demonstrated by the owners. Kepa Arrizabalaga also insisted it was not an issue, saying: “Todd comes to the changing room every game. He had different chats with us after different games. It was normal when he came (in after the Brighton loss).”
Other issues have served to unsettle.
There have been comings and goings over the last 12 months from medical staff to ground staff and within the club’s management structure. It was always going to take time to adjust to the absence of those who have left. Players are not seeing the familiar faces around the site that they had grown used to, either — figures with whom they had been comfortable have moved on.
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Similarly, it will take time for the new arrivals to bed in and for people to get comfortable with their roles. But that state of flux has added to the uncertainty around the place, with this a period of transition. One source described seeing such a long queue of staff for lunch at the club’s training ground one day that it stretched outside the entrance to the dining room and down the corridor. That was unprecedented.
Maybe, if there were natural leaders in positions of power in the dressing room, the players might be impervious to the change. But this Chelsea team lacks such voices — figures who can explain to newcomers what the club is all about.
Cesar Azpilicueta is still on the scene and has seen it all over his 11-year stint at the club, but he has barely played since suffering a head injury in February. He is one of the candidates who could leave in the summer.
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The two outstanding academy graduates, Mason Mount and Reece James, have struggled with injury as well as patchy form for much of the season. Thiago Silva is a key figure and a player whose reputation precedes him, but he is hardly in a position to give rallying speeches — not least because he is far from fluent in English.
The departure of Jorginho, who was sold to Arsenal for £12million in January, has actually been a significant blow. He was a very popular figure among the group and one who could converse in all languages.
One source, who is close to senior players and does not want to be named to protect relationships, has noticed some are choosing to stay at home during their downtime more than usual rather than taking the opportunity to unwind, to ease the pressure, by going out together.
This is always a difficult situation to judge because, if players are pictured on a night out, it could be misconstrued for not caring enough about what is going on. The high wages they earn means few fans are sympathetic to the notion that players can suffer, like anyone else, when their job is not going well. If you are not in a good place mentally, it is a lot harder to perform.
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In truth, this season has fizzled out early. Barring the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid, there has been little to play for. The Premier League challenge never materialised and the chances of securing a top-four finish disappeared a while back, too.
There has been a sentiment in some quarters that the only way to fix things is to get through the remaining games, have the summer break and then start again. To reset.
While this season has been a disappointment to say the least, there is optimism the club can bounce back under new management. After all, the last time Chelsea experienced a season as bad as this they won the Premier League the next year under Antonio Conte, in 2016-17. It is quite a leap to say history will repeat itself, but it does provide hope among the gloom.
Still, the sooner the club appoint a new coach to start repairing the damage in the dressing room, the better.
(Photos for top image: Ryan Pierse / Getty Images; Richard Heathcote / Getty Images; Eddie Keogh / Getty Images. Designed by Sam Richardson)