Looking Ahead at Chelsea Football for Summer 2010

It is that time of the year again! We’re busy talking about who to keep, who to sell and who to buy. I’ve now come up with my version of what Chelsea should do this summer. The basis for my views is that we want to begin an era of dominance built through good, but not necessarily star, players by thoughtful acquisitions and youth development.

We also need to keep in mind the need for financial stability/sustenance and the compliance with the probable UEFA rules that might come into play very soon. The primary objective still remains football success, which is to win titles while we ensure that we become financially self-sustained, further the strong bonding within the Chelsea family and basically continue with the Blue Revolution.

I’ve split this post into four parts—(a) keep no matter what (b) keep at club’s terms (c) sell only if you get the best offer (d) offload anyway (e) players we should buy. These are self-explanatory but still I have tried my best to explain further. Here we go!

Keep no matter what: Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, Jose Bosingwa, Yury Zhirkov, Paulo Ferreira, Daniel Sturridge & John Terry.

I would like Chelsea FC to hang on to these players no matter what. Some of these players are not to be sold at any price and some of these are never going to fetch you a great price. The common things across these players is their usefulness in their given roles. One might wonder why I’ve put Paulo Ferreira there. For his limited pitch time in the last few seasons, he has come in handy when called upon. He never complains, he waits for his opportunities and he does deliver. He is a fantastic second choice right back to have. If you’re a bit kind enough you might remember that he even kept Messi quiet over two legs. You’re never going to get a second choice right back like Paulo who’s as good as him but doesn’t complain. He must stay.

Jose Mourinho badly wants to take Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole with him to Real Madrid. I hope we send a big “sorry” note to him as soon as possible. I wouldn’t swap Lampard and Ashley Cole even for Kaka and some money. We don’t need Kaka as much as we need players like Lampard and Ashley Cole.

There are some questions over Mikel as well. Some think that he’s not as good as he’s made out to be. I have a quite opposite view. I think Mikel is highly underrated. He performs a role that normally does not get him to do spectacular things. I’ve said time and again that for a man of his age to be playing as the holding midfielder in a team of Chelsea’s caliber and in the premier league competition is phenomenal. Imagine what he could be at 30. Mikel is pure gold. We must hold on to him.

Keep at the club’s terms: Joe Cole & Michael Ballack

I’d give Ballack a 2-year contract if the price is on our terms. Ballack is certainly not the player he was at Bayern. It’s clear that his age is showing up. To his defense, the roles that he played at Bayern/Germany and at Chelsea are entirely different. In Germany and Bayern, the team was built around him and he was the channel for all the attacks. He was the undisputed leader there. In Chelsea, his role is far more muted. I think he has taken his new role in Chelsea very well. If we were playing a big match, I’d love to see Ballack in the line-up. His strength is not pace, dribbling or tackling. He is all about ball control, skill and game intelligence of filling spaces and being a pain in the wrong place for the opposition. I don’t see Ballack being a first choice player anymore but he is fine with being a squad player at our terms, I’d happily have him.

Joe Cole is in the same boat as Ballack. He is 30 now and his best days are not ahead of him. He has probably two more good seasons. I’ve mentioned here why he is not a 100k player and why he must stay only at club’s terms. We are not getting enough from Joe Cole. He is a bit injury prone. While he is still working hard, he seems to have lost that magic which defined him. He stays as per the club’s terms or leaves. Simple as.

Sell only if you get the best offer: Ricardo Carvalho, Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou & Alex.

First of all, this doesn’t mean that I want these players to be sold. It’s just that I think we can cash in on them as they are not so very critical for the team or there could be better options for their positions in the team now. Carvalho has been rumored to leave for some seasons now. With his mentor JM at Real Madrid (who need quality centre backs), he might just want to leave. You might be surprised that I’ve put two centre backs—in Carvalho and Alex— in the “sell if you get the best offer” list. While Alex has been very good for us, I’ve never been so convinced that he is a quality centre back. For our style of play now, we need a more solid centre back that has pace. Probably a good young centre back is what I’m looking at.

Salomon Kalou probably had his best season with Chelsea. I think he is a very useful squad player but I wonder how much of a future he has at Chelsea. I also wonder what could be his maximum potential. I’m all for keeping Salomon Kalou if he can get a bit of strength and power and more importantly, a bit more game intelligence and consistency. Maybe it’s a harsh call on someone who’s best we’re yet to see. He’s 25 now. Drogba was 25 when he came to Chelsea. This is a very close call.

You know how much I’ve grown to like Anelka from those low-work-rate days of the Frenchman. He has impressed me a lot over the last one-year or so. The only reason why I’d sell him if I get the best offer is, this could free up space for a new young talent— either from inside or outside. Anelka may not want to be a squad player. It is one thing about sitting in the bench when Drogba is playing as the lone striker in 4-3-3 while watching two other strikers play in a 4-4-2 is another. I’m happy for us to go with another season of Drogba-Anelka combination but we don’t want to feel a void when Drogba leaves. We should already have some young striker working with Drogba and learning from the master.

Offload anyway: Deco, Juliano Belletti, Henrique Hilario & Ross Turnbull.

We should let Deco and Belletti leave. I think it’s only a matter of time before they both depart for the Brazilian league. Wish them good luck. I’ve put the second and third choice goalkeepers here. Basically what I mean is, we don’t have a quality second choice for Petr Cech. While Hilario has come in and done a decent job, I don’t think I’d be comfortable to go through a say, two or three month period with Hilario. We could probably keep Turnbull as the third choice, sell Hilario and get a new second choice goalkeeper. Right now, we’re betting big on Petr Cech and his ability to see through a season without any long injuries. Actually, we don’t have to, if we address this situation.

Who should we buy then?

1. Right winger:

Chelsea’s left side is probably the strongest in Europe. You have Ashley Cole or Zhirkov in defense, Lampard or Zhirkov or Malouda in midfield, Malouda or Zhirkov or Anelka in attack—all on the left side. When you compare this to the right side, we’re way too weak. The weakness of the right side comes from the lack of an out and out right-winger. Kalou is a striker turned winger. He doesn’t play like a winger. We need a magician who can produce magic when things don’t seem to go our way.

2. Centre back:

We need a good partner for John Terry—someone who can complement Terry. With Carvalho looking to leave, we need a top replacement for him, who can play alongside Terry. Here, I’m not looking at a young player; I’m in fact, looking at an established centre back that’s probably around 25 to 28 years of age. We have a few options from our reserves/youth team waiting to break into the bench.

3. Goalkeeper:

Petr Cech needs a good second choice. Cech has been very crucial to our success the same way Drogba and Lampard have been. We know how important he is when we recollect the impact of his absence in 2006-07. We need a quality second choice that can be a first choice in clubs like Everton, Atletico, Parma, Bordeaux, etc. just to give you an idea.

4. Attacking midfielder:

Belletti and Deco could be out. Joe Cole might also be out. Ballack could probably only hang on for another season. Lampard is 32. Essien, unfortunately, has his injury concerns that don’t let him finish a season fully. Mikel has fit himself superbly into the holding midfielder role. All this says loud and clear that we need a next-generation attacking midfielder—a young but creative player who can play as the centre midfielder or as the attacking midfielder. He must be pretty versatile. In other words, the next Frank Lampard. I know we have Matic coming up but I’m talking about a fairly established player here.

As you can see, I have no names in my shopping list. I have only roles. There are many players in the market that can fit into those roles and in our budget and in our team ethic. Also, I want to see some fairly established players to compete with our young players in the slots that are going to be vacated by our legends. 

The image above is only my wishful thinking. I know we’re not going to buy too many players and we’re trying reduce the wage spend considerably. If we’re going to buy only one player from the above image, I’d be ecstatic. Since we may not get too much cash for our outgoing players, I don’t see Chelsea buying three to four established players this summer. We could still buy one or two.

As mentioned on my Twitter, the key influence on this summer transfers would be Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid. Since Real Madrid adopted the galacticos approach, they have normally gone for the stars, or the ones in the making. JM normally looks to have the players that he needs in order to win. He may not go by star value. I think JM would shake up the whole squad and look to strengthen the squad. He already said that he might want Danielle de Rossi etc. He would also get some EPL players for sure. If he happens to nick Ashley Cole or Essien (which I hate to even imagine), we need to be prepared for the quality replacements.

We need to act quickly because the world cup always inflates the price. I think Kaka would be offloaded not because they’re fools but because he never should have been bought there. I don’t think Kaka is a player for Real Madrid’s style of play. He would work better in a diamond with slower players around him.

We need to monitor the situation at Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus. These are the clubs where there would be some player traffic either triggered by the management or by the players themselves. All those players who are in these clubs or the ones who wanted to move for these clubs can be potential targets for us.

Madrid will offload because they bought players without a good vision of what type of squad they wanted to build. Inter Milan would have to get a big personality to fill the void created by JM’s exit. Otherwise, you’ll have players looking to grab new opportunities. Milan are in complete disarray with no manager, old players, uncertainty about ownership etc. In a way, Liverpool are in a similar situation. Juventus spent a lot of money but couldn’t convert that into success. Some players are very upset and disappointed and are looking elsewhere. These are top clubs with some top talent—they are not necessarily Cristiano Ronaldos or Lionel Messis but they are cream of the talents in Europe.

Finally, you have this small matter of the world cup. It will be interesting to see how the stars perform and to see if new stars are born. This month-long spectacle can have a huge impact on the transfer market. It’s best to relook at the transfer market in the second week of July. There you have it—my view on who to keep, sell and buy!