Ex-Chelsea manager who won FA Cup with club says club aren’t elite anymore like Top 6 Rivals
One of the game’s most legendary figures has revealed his deep concerns about the direction of travel Chelsea are heading in under BlueCo as the club prepare to take on Manchester City in the FA Cup final today.
Can you remember when the player manager was in vogue? Sadly, since the turn of the Millennium, the guys that write the theme tune, sing the theme tune, perform the theme tune all while putting the cones out are a thing of the past.
One such luminary of the school of player managers was Ruud Gullit, and get this, he was actually pretty successful. In his first full season both playing and managing in 96-97, he guided Chelsea to the FA Cup, becoming the first Dutch and black manager to lift major honours in England. Given his illustrious career on the grass, he’s probably someone to listen to.
Gullit blasts BlueCo philosophy
Gullit expressed his deep concern about BlueCo’s player trading philosophy and believes that it is holding the club back from being able to compete for the games biggest prizes.
Speaking to MrRaffle.com, Gullit said: “I’ve said so many times — I can’t figure out what the plan is. What is your plan? Now, and maybe I’m wrong, but what I see is: it looks like they get a bunch of the best young players, and the coach who comes in has to deal with what’s there. It looks like the incoming coach has no input on which players come in or not. It’s a different philosophy.”
The Dutchman doubled down and explained why the current philosophy isn’t keeping the fans or the players happy at Stamford Bridge because the club are no longer competing for the games biggest prizes like Arsenal, Man City and Man Utd.
Players’ and fans don’t believe in the project
“You can already see that players want to get out of the club. They want to leave. You don’t want that. They feel like, “I want to win trophies,” and the way things are going, that doesn’t seem to be happening. The club needs to do something.
“That’s what I think. Maybe they need to come out with a statement about their philosophy so people can understand it. But believe me — the fans want trophies. They’ve come from two Champions League wins. The fans won’t accept this. If you’re part of the elite of Europe, it can’t be like this,” he said.
We happen to agree with Gullit. It will be very hard to hold onto the likes of Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez without Champions League football next season, regardless of who walks in the door to manage the club next season.
