It seems mad that after having spent all that money in the last few years that we are still saying that Chelsea need to spend MORE money to be Premier League title challengers, but unfortunately I actually just think that IS the case right now.
Former Manchester United defender Phil Jones said this week:
“I think they’ve quietly gone about the business. So I think it’s quite a nice place to be at in terms of Maresca, what he’s thinking. I like the players they’ve got. I think he’s built a really good team there. I like his ideas.
“I still think they’re the one or two players short on being really challenging for the title, but I think, you know, slowly but surely. I think next year they’ll have a real good challenge if they recruit well.”
I don’t disagree with most of this. I’ve said myself recently that we aren’t actually that far off. But we do still have gaping holes in this squad and we do need to recruit well and bring the right profiles, mentalities, and quality in. We need more physicality as well as leadership and motivators. Am I confident we will bring in what is needed? Nope, not at all. But right now, we ARE not that far off IF we get it right.
It’s a bit of a Manchester United feel today, right? I’ve had an article on Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, now we got Phil Jones! Sorry about that, but they’ve all said some interesting things relating to Chelsea this week!
Incidentally, Jones retired from football quite early, he’s only 33 now and he last played for United in 2023. He said he retired so he could move into coaching. He obviously also struggled with injuries which hasn’t helped. But he’s now within the United setup, coaching the U18s. I guess we will watch this space for his managerial career that is developing.
