Chelsea 2.0

ShoulderChip wrote: »

Tonight, marked the end of abramovic's first attempt at making his wonder team. Regardless of the result it was earmarked to be the last experience shared by the current cycle of players. His initial naivety in believing that a quick injection of cash would bring instant attractive success waned into a series of lessons learned through the Mourinho era and brought to an end by Avram Grant.
Abramovic now after facing the dilemna of re-structuring his team or clicking the reset button and starting again has decided on the latter. Perhaps the player unrest, lack of respect of the manager as well as the growing number of transfer requests made that decision all the easier.

The allure of mourinho still treads the corridors of sw3 and it is no surprise that almost the core of his self-made team have been linked with a move away from the club this summer. Players such as Carvalho and Drogba have made their intentions quiet public and have further hinted of the possible exodus of Mourinhos key allies such as Lampard, Essien, and J.Cole. Fans would not be surprised either by the departures of less exciting players either such as Malouda, SWPhilips, Sidwell, Ferreira, Bridge, Belletti and Schevchenko. Makelele too is approaching the end of his career and wont be in Abramovices plans.


Abramovices second attempt at Chelsea or Chelsea2.0 certainly offers many challenges, Foremost is who will he hire as manager and what power will the manager be given. Will he expect the new manager to accept that he, as well as Kenyon, Arneson etc all should have a say,
or will he bank on a proven talent and equip him with the funds and support to make a name for himself. Names linked so far include Mancini, Rijkard, and Sven the man who would have been in charge three four years ago, were it not for a benny McCarthy goal against Man United.

The players brought in will too say a lot about his strategy, will he enjoy the freedom to go down the Galactico route which he enjoyed with some success in the arrival of the Ballack and Schevchenko duo. Rumours have been spread about the clubs intentions to acquire amourous signings such as Robinho, Messi, and Kaka. This however to some extent is not consistent with the signing of the hard working Mourinho-esque boswinga to fill the gap in right-back ahead of more adventurous attacking threats such as Dani Alves.

This Summer will not be quiet at the bridge, but the path set out by Abramovic is not yet clear, what do you think will happen?

Very interesting post. This summer will no doubt bring the biggest changes since Abramovich arrived. All the fringe and over the hill players will be moved on while Grant will probably be moved "upstairs". The spine of the team isn't likely to be radically changed though with Cech, Terry, Carvalho, the Coles and Ballack all more than likely staying put.

It is firstly very important to understand that there was going to be major transfer activity and a probable change of manager at Chelsea this summer irrespective of how the width of the goalpost and crossbar was the ultimate difference between success and failure last night.

It is secondly vital to stress that Chelsea would be no better or worse a team this morning if John Terry had slotted that penalty home. It is easy to be distracted by the "ZOMG WE ARE CHAMPIONS AND THE BESTEST EVAR" comments that trail the victors in the aftermath of a victory. One can take in the post match plaudits of the television and print media and listen to the simpletons down the pub or on football message boards and be fooled in to thinking that the margins between success and failure over the course of the 2007 / 8 season amount to a veritable chasm that will be difficult or impossible to bridge. But that is far from the truth.

Over the course of 38 league games the margin was ultimately two points. Over that sample size of games it is a couple of kicks and bounces here and there. The charge that luck levels out in football may be true - but it definitely doesn't even out over a 38 game sample size. The end league result still owes a lot to variance. As for the final last night? It was a draw after 120 minutes where Chelsea were the best side but lost in the lottery of penalties. My point? It would be sheer idiocy to claim that United are much if anything ahead of their London rivals. The races have come down to photo finishes on the line - and one of the runners has had the slight run of things. But that wouldn't necessarily be the case next year if we ran it again, or the year after or so on, etc.

Over the past five seasons Chelsea have won the league twice; finished second three times; reached the semi - final stages of the CL three times; been runners up once; won the FA Cup and the League cup once each. As such, by any normal measures Roman Abramovich has achieved excellent levels of success - particularly when that five year record is put in the context of the club's record in the 20 years that preceded the 2003 / 4 season. Last night and this season don't prove that Chelsea are also rans or second tier within the sphere of European football - on the contrary, they stand at the very top of the footballing world. They just don't dominate in the same way that United don't dominate it and they didn't win it all this year due to short term swings of fortune.

It may seem odd then that Roman had already decided to break it down and start again to come back better and stronger. Why, when he is so close to winning a double? The answer to that question is the very thing that should have fans of all other Premiership and European sides quaking in their boots. Abramovich isn't content to simply reach the line in a neck and neck dip for victory. His goal is to obliterate the footballing opposition - just like he obliterated the competition in the business world.

Being very, very, very good doesn't equal perfection. And so he is starting again in a fashion to get it "right" this time. It is a much easier task for us to focus on the negatives of the Chelsea situation as we shift through the debris of a missed penalty kick. The brain likes decisive outcomes because they sit easier. So even though there was nothing decisive about this season we like to twist it that way, and talk rubbish about how it is impossible to see a young United squad being knocked off their perch over the next few years particularly if Chelsea take a step back this summer.

But that step back will be to take two steps forward. Money is power in football and Roman Abromavch has, in the context of the footballing world, an endless supply. And in any case, Chelsea 2.0 is going to cost him less because the club is now a much more economical and efficient beast in terms of finances than it was four years ago. United's perch isn't all that solid. And as a Liverpool fan the scary thing is not as far as we are behind them now - but how far we will be behind a reformed and reinvigorated Chelsea machine three seasons hence. The details of how it will come about seem hazy and difficult to put together at this point. But a big chequebook solves all in football when it is given enough time to work it's magic.

Beware folks, this guy doesn't do losing close. His aim is to be winning big. And so far in his life he's got what he wanted. No reason to think that won't continue.

dc69 wrote: »

RA is worth about 10 billion,he has nearly spent 1/10th of his personal wealth on a club that never won the big prize.WHEN he sells they will go to muck,whos gona buy them.

They have no fanbase compared to the other teams
**** Stadium
700m of Debt

Its not a viable business and when he sells,they will be he next leeds.

RA is gona realise soon enough he is burning money at quite a rate and will leave.NO One in their right mind would continue the madness of ploughing money in,that you will never get back.

His personal wealth has been estimated from other sources to be as high as 19Billion (but no - one knows definitively). Also, you might consider that he is estimated to have spent approx 2x on charitable causes what he has spent on Chelsea football club over the past five years (but again it's all estimates). And finally, Chelsea's financial reporting and projections predict that they will become independently profitable sometime around 2011 or 2012 when factoring in operating costs at a similar level to what they are doing currently (but of course the assumptions and data upon which such assumptions are based are vulnerable to changes in the rules or the marketable fan base). As a Liverpool fan I would like to take the rubbish you spout as truth - but it has a distinct smell of bull**** to me. There is little in the way of conclusive evidence that suggests he isn't there for the long haul. But we'll see.

dc69 wrote: »

Its not bull**** as you put it,There is no way chelski are gona be out of debt by 2012,not a chance in hell.They are constantly adding to their debt,look at boswinga,they just added 16 million to their debt on a fullback,who will no doubt be one of several expensive players to hit the club this season.To even break even in the next few years chelski will have to cut wage packets and stop buying more players,something they arent doing.

Utd are brillaint at editing account statements to make it look like they are in profit,as seen this year but chelski are even better at it.

Not out of debt by that time - but operating at a yearly profit thereafter meaning that Abramovich can see light at the end of the tunnel of bottomless pit investing.