Since the advent of the new era at Stamford Bridge led by Todd Boehly and his business partners, Chelsea fans have had nothing but complaints.
The sacking of Thomas Tuchel was the start of it all but before then, the German was struggling to get things going despite the massive financial support he received.
Graham Potter came and in under seven months, has been booted out and now, the club seems to be stuck in a rut.
A lot needs to change and using the analytics tool for sports betting on Overlyzer, this article gives a brief insight into what the club can do next season.
Astute summer signings
Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbali have proven to be prize fighters in the transfer market ring. Both men are unafraid to negotiate huge deals and follow through with them no matter how much is involved.
They have also shown their adeptness at amortisation and a knack for negotiating impressively long contracts for their signings. They signed a total of 16 players and half of that number are on long-term contracts.
Their transfer experience, however, is lacking and the makeup of their signings show how much they are yet to understand. The club signed a number of attackers and only paid transfer fees for three midfielders: Carney Chukwuemeka, Enzo Fernandez and Andrey Santos. Of those three, only two are at the club with Andrey Santos returning on loan to Vasco da Gama in the Brazilian Serie A from where he signed.
This season, a huge portion of their problems came from the midfield. They have a bloated squad of 32 senior players but the problem of chance creation from the middle of the park persists.
It is already a certainty that they will seek to add some more midfielders in the coming window. However, they must be smart about it.
It is important that they get proper advice before throwing eight or nine figures at the next shiny thing in the transfer market.
Who they could sign
Denis Zakaria joined on loan in the summer but has battled fitness issues for the duration of his loan spell. This has probably ruled him out of remaining at the club permanently.
If they decide to keep the Switzerland international, he will be a very interesting addition to the side. He can effectively replace Jorginho, who is now on the verge of winning the Premier League with Arsenal after they let him go in January.
Alexis Mac Allister is also someone who the West London club could sign and the rumour mills suggest that they are already making moves to do just that.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup winner with Argentina will provide a sense of camaraderie for Enzo Fernandez which could be amazing for the team.
He is also a great replacement for Jorginho as he possesses many of the talents that the Brazilian-Italian was known for.
In attack, they may want to ignore the pull to acquire more wingers and focus on a number 9.
Romelu Lukaku will be coming back from a decent season in the Italian Serie A with his former club Internazionale at the end of the season. Giving him a chance could be the way to go because there are not many strikers of high quality out there.
Victor Osimhen of Napoli is their primary target, however. Working hard to sign him should be their priority alongside a midfielder like Mac Allister or Zakaria and they will have had a successful summer 2023 transfer window.
A new manager
This is as obvious as the fact that the earth is round. Frank Lampard is doing the club of his life a (paid) favour until they can find a manager between now and the summer transfer window.
Mauricio Pochettino is the reported obvious choice. This appointment is great in many ways. In the same vein, it is worrisome.
The Argentine manager has had his good times in the Premier League, most notable of which was his run-up to the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League final with Tottenham Hotspur. He has yet to win anything of repute in England, however.
In fact, his first-ever trophy as a manager came in his brief stint as Paris Saint-Germain manager. This, despite the wealth of experience that he has, is a blight on his name among modern managers.
Nonetheless, he is an amazing coach and a great manager and he will make the club’s job easier if they listen to him. If they do not and choose to do whatever they feel like, it will tell in his performance like it did under Daniel Levy at Spurs.
Utilising the creative midfield players more
Chelsea this season has been focused on the big names in attack doing things.
Some of them work while most of them do not, leading to their struggles in the league this season. It will be difficult for Pochettino or whoever is appointed in the coming months to fully deal with the big names who will demand to play week in, well out, but a switch to smart midfield play will make all the difference for them in the coming seasons.
This is how Arsenal thrived. This is how Newcastle United thrived. This is how Brighton and Hove Albion thrived. This is how Manchester City has thrived for the past six years.
The new coach will have to be resolute in his decision of attackers to use and must pair them up with the right midfielders, so as not to cause problems on the pitch by playing incompatible players. This is also why the club will need to be smart in the summer with their midfield additions.
Man management will play a key role here as well because the coach will struggle with the big names in the side. This is probably why they are opting for Pochettino because no name is bigger than Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar in football at the moment and the Argentine has already managed these aforementioned players.
