Matt Law’s story in the Telegraph this morning that Chelsea owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali went into the dressing room was not all that spicy, one because we all saw them walk over there at full time with our own eyes, and two because (as Kepa told us in the press conference today) they do it after most games.
But Jacob Steinberg’s story, building on that piece, adds the juicy detail we were waiting for. This paragraph reveals some specifics about the dressing room showdown between owners and playing staff:
“It is understood that one senior player, signed for a large fee in the past 12 months, was singled out for heavy criticism,” Steinberg wrote in the Guardian.
“That player, whose identity is not being disclosed, is believed to be disillusioned with the situation and cut a disgruntled figure in training before Chelsea attempt to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg against Madrid.”
Now it’s pure speculation, but we reckon that player has to be Raheem Sterling. He’s a senior player, he’s been signed for a large fee in the last 12 months, and he played so poorly on Saturday that we can imagine him coming in for criticism.
We didn’t see him looking disgruntled in the open training session, but those are pretty limited images.
To be fair, Lampard playing Sterling as the (false?) 9 against Brighton and as part of a front two against Real Madrid was never going to work. Sterling is not a good fit for either role, and that’s entirely on the manager.
BUT, even when he’s been more appropriately used as a winger, Sterling has been playing well below his high standards for most of the season and looks a shadow of the danger man he was prior to his arrival at Chelsea. You can rationalize that his success at City had much to do with their highly technical style of play and the fact that rapid ball movement allowed him to largely avoid physical duels with defenders in which he usually comes off second best, but at some point top players have to figure out how to adapt to new surroundings and systems. Based on current evidence of his ineffectiveness, and barring a change in system under a new manager at Chelsea, it’s hard not to reach the conclusion that Sterling is an ill fit for us and ought to be sold.
Bang on point!