Chelsea’s ownership’s plan was simple – spend a billion on young players who will hopefully be good in 5 years.
The problem is, they’ve got to play hundreds of games over those 5 years, and if there are many more like yesterday, there’s going to be a serious mutiny at Stamford Bridge. Just listen to former Blue Frank Leboeuf on ESPN yesterday.
His scathing assessment of a feeble Chelsea team was that there was “no leadership, no experience,” and the reason for that was that “they are youth,” a team of kids with a 38 year old at the back.
You can see his rant in the clip embedded here:
A) Saturday’s performance was not nearly as bad as some hysterical commentators and supporters are making it out to be. Indeed “bad” isn’t even a word I would use in describing a game we lost 0-1 in which we dominated possession (over 75%) and in which we created +2 xG. “Disappointing”—yes, definitely.. “Unfortunate” that we had one bad lapse and conceded a goal at home to an inferior side—for sure. “Unlucky” that we didn’t score—yes, created several decent chances and need to be more clinical in finishing them. But “feeble,” as SuperFrank has labeled it, is hardly the word I would use to describe a game in which we generated 21 shots!
B) Since when did “youth” become a dirty word? Just over 12 months ago everyone was bemoaning our lack of youth. Folks looked at a team like Arsenal (where the average age of the starting 11 can’t be much more than 24, and envied all the young talent and room for improvement. What everyone wants to overlook is that Arsenal went through aome serious growing pains in 21-22 with Arteta and his youth movement. Chelsea supporters somehow think they’re entitled to just skip over that part—the one that demands a lot of hard work and faith yourself, lol! Grow up!
I for one am sick to death of this adolescent, entitled attitude on the part of supporters. If you truly “support” the club then cut out the constant recriminations and back this manager and this group of players. They’ve got enough pressure to contend with absent a bunch of hysterical fans turning on them in the fourth week of the season. Youth will make mistakes and will have bad games (far worse than Saturday), and if you can’t support the youth through these trials then you don’t deserve any of the glory that comes when they finally prove out and win trophies. Suck it up, SuperFrank. Suck it up!