How did league champions Liverpool and Club World Cup winners Chelsea fall so far? | Premier League
Should we have seen this coming?
Liverpool: Not at all. Hindsight offers a few portents, such as the extent of last summer’s upheaval and Arne Slot’s insistence that it was a necessary response to Liverpool’s form towards the end of last season. It was strange to hear a title-winning coach in effect play down his team’s achievement. There was also the tragic death of Diogo Jota to deal with. Only Jota’s teammates and colleagues know the toll that has taken on them individually. But when the transfer window closed on 1 September with the £125m signing of Alexander Isak, taking the summer spend to almost £450m and expectations through the roof, the question asked was whether Liverpool would clean up given the resources at Slot’s disposal.
Here was a team that coasted to the Premier League title by 10 points and with four games to spare, strengthened by the biggest spending spree in Liverpool’s history. Isak, £116m Florian Wirtz, £79m Hugo Ekitiké et al were signed to upgrade strong performances into more emphatic victories and improve the challenge to Paris Saint-Germain, not to produce Liverpool’s worst run in 71 years of nine defeats in 12 games and a campaign heavy on mediocrity. It is revisionism to claim otherwise. AH
Chelsea: If your view is that the Chelsea project will never work then their season ending in chaos will not be a surprise. There are plenty of doubters. Critics look at the splurge on signings, the endless conveyor belt of talent, the apparent instability, the dissenting fanbase, the managerial churn. Put it all together and perhaps it makes sense that Chelsea may need to downgrade their target from snatching European qualification to finishing in the top half. Then again, it is not so long ago that it seemed they had cracked it, last summer’s triumph in the Club World Cup followed by a run that had some people calling them title contenders at the end of November. The fact is anyone who says they saw this coming when Chelsea walloped Barcelona at Stamford Bridge would be lying. The problem is that nobody knew that Enzo Maresca would soon be heading for the exit. JS
How has it come to this?
Liverpool: Slot says he could write a book on the myriad problems that have confronted Liverpool but has no plans to do so. Suggested topics include: 1) Last summer’s transfer strategy, led by the sporting director, Richard Hughes, and Michael Edwards, chief executive of football at Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s owner. Talent was acquired at great expense but Slot was left with an imbalanced squad and inadequate cover, particularly in defensive positions. 2) Signings having minimal impact. Wirtz has shown his quality in moments and Isak has been hindered by injury but neither has looked a convincing fit or exerted great influence. The full-backs Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong – that latter who is more a wing-back and has also struggled with injury – are not at the level of peak Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold. 3) Awful luck with injuries. The young defender Giovanni Leoni produces an accomplished debut in a Carabao Cup win against Southampton but sustains a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury in the 81st minute. Isak scores his first goal from a Wirtz assist at Tottenham and sustains a fractured fibula and ankle injury from Micky van de Ven’s challenge in the process. Conor Bradley and Ekitiké also sustained season-ending injuries. Isak, Wirtz and Ekitiké were on the pitch together for a combined 115 minutes. 4) An unexpected drop-off by established figures such as Alexis Mac Allister, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konaté and Mohamed Salah, prompting Salah to publicly lambast Slot after being benched for a week. 5) Recurring failures at set pieces. 6) Being far too open and easy to play through, with Slot struggling to find a solution. 7) The post-Klopp hangover kicking in. Word constraints prevent further elaboration. Perhaps a book is in order? AH
Chelsea: The club view Maresca’s messy and unplanned departure as the turning point. The managerial market was not exactly booming when the Italian, the leading contender to take over at Manchester City if Pep Guardiola leaves, walked out on New Year’s Day. Chelsea looked within for a solution, turning to Liam Rosenior. The 41-year-old was at their partner club, Strasbourg, and well known to the board and recruitment team. Rosenior is regarded as a bright young coach but struggled to win over his new squad and quickly lost momentum after an encouraging start.
Rosenior made a series of unforced errors as Chelsea went on a historically bad run. Player power bubbled to the surface, culminating in the Englishman being fired 107 days into a six-and-a-half-year deal, and the lack of leadership in a young dressing room has been exposed. Indiscipline has been a problem. There have been too many silly red cards and defensive lapses. Away from the pitch, rebellious interviews from Enzo Fernández and Marc Cucurella have heaped pressure on an unpopular ownership.
Rosenior never recovered from Fernández, who has not exactly been discreet about his interest in joining Real Madrid, being hit with an internal two-game ban. Many players looked as if they had downed tools in Rosenior’s final game, a shocking 3-0 defeat at Brighton. Supporters, though, have not merely taken aim at a side whose arrogance is underlined by their habit of turning up only when they fancy it. There is constant criticism of the five sporting directors – too many signings have not worked out – and the opposition to the BlueCo ownership is vast. The focus on Todd Boehly has dimmed but Clearlake Capital, the US private equity firm and the club’s majority shareholder, has come under constant fire. Behdad Eghbali, Clearlake’s co-founder and a person of significant influence at Chelsea, is deeply unpopular with protesting fans. The atmosphere has darkened.
Chelsea will hope this is a blip. They have had bad luck with injuries. It is worth pointing out they did not have a proper pre-season because of the Club World Cup. They have also been without their best defender, Levi Colwill, for much of the campaign, and their best player, Cole Palmer, has had fitness problems. JS
Have there been any positives?
Liverpool: Ekitiké has largely impressed and 17 goals in his debut season, one sadly curtailed by a serious achilles injury, represents a fine start in a struggling team. Kerkez has improved after a difficult start, the 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha has shown great promise and Liverpool, for all their troubles, are close to securing Champions League qualification again. European wins over the two Madrid clubs, Inter and Marseille were reminders of the levels Liverpool can reach. AH
Chelsea: João Pedro has impressed since joining from Brighton, scoring 23 goals. Estêvão Willian, the young Brazil winger, showed promise before a hamstring injury ended his campaign. And there is still a chance of silverware and a route into Europe via the FA Cup, with the interim head coach, Calum McFarlane, tasked with masterminding an upset when Chelsea face Manchester City in the final next Saturday. JS
What needs to happen next?
Liverpool: Many Liverpool fans would give a blunt answer with patience in Slot wearing thin and Xabi Alonso available. On the basis that the Dutch coach is allowed to address this season’s failings, he needs to give the team an identity and navigate the end of an era far more convincingly. Slot has said Salah’s replacement this summer must be able to beat his man on the outside and provide deliveries that maximise Isak’s predatory skills in the penalty area. With Leoni back for the start of next season, and Jérémy Jacquet arriving for £60m from Rennes, Liverpool should not be as reliant on Van Dijk and Konaté in central defence. But there remain several positions to improve, including right-back, central midfield and left-wing, unless Ngumoha is considered ready to start more often. A goalkeeper may also be required should Alisson join the exodus of experience. AH
Chelsea: Get the next manager right and empower him. Listen to him on recruitment and find someone who will get rid of the entitlement and laziness in the dressing room. Chelsea have to sort out their culture. They are in a period of “self-reflection”. That means looking in the mirror, being honest and working out whether anything in the structure has to change. Will all the sporting directors survive? One thing’s for sure: they have to buy some experienced players. Youngsters need guidance. JS
