Vital lessons that Chelsea can learn from Arsenal by Kennedy
Arsenal’s march towards the Premiership crown continues after a pulsating 2:2 draw with Liverpool, and now the Gunners lead our local rivals Chelsea by a whopping 34 points, with eight games left before the season ends.
Meanwhile Chelsea’s dismal performances continued after losing by a solitary goal to Wolves, even after appointing Frank Lampard as their interim manager.
Chelsea’s fortunes on the pitch have dwindled considerably this season in spite of the massive investment in new players.
What lessons can the misfiring Chelsea learn from the Gunners ‘project’?
Frequent managerial changes are counterproductive
In the last ten years, Chelsea has hired and fired almost ten managers.
In June 2013, Chelsea recruited the eccentric Jose Mourinho as thier manager.. He was followed by Eddie Newton, Steve Holland, Guus Hiddink, Andreas Villas Boas and Di Matteo not necessarily in that order.
Later on,Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Bruno Saltor came and left Chelsea in quick succession.
Frank Lampard is the current interim manager and the Blues are still searching for a substantive manager.
Arsenal on the other hand has had only Four managers for the last ten years. They include the iconic Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery, Freddy Ljungberg and Mikel Arteta, the current gaffer.
In modern football, frequent changes in the coaching staff creates uncertainty among the players.
This is due to the fact that different managers have different Philisophies, tactics and training methods. They also have different personalities and temperament.
Jose Mourinho for instance is outspoken, combative and does not shy away from controversy. Maurizzio Sarri by contrast is calm and introspective.
Frequent managerial changes force players to adapt every time a new gaffer comes in, and this affects performance adversely in the long run.
These changes can also lead to a breakdown in the working relationship between players and the manager. Graham Potter for instance had a frosty relationship with Jorginho, Edouard Mendy and Aubemayang.
In short, Chelsea needs to learn the vitue of patience and managerial stability if they aspire to succed on the pitch like Arsenal.
An effective player acquisition strategy is a precondition for success
Tod Boehly and his associates have signed a considerable number of new players after taking over the Blues. However, no clear recruitment strategy is evident and the exercise has been error prone leading to a disastrous performance on the pitch.
For instance, why did Chelsea sign Pierre Emerick Aubemayang and then start looking for a way to discard him shortly after?
Arsenal on the other hand have a clearer player recruitment policy led by Edu and Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners sign young and ambitious players and mould them into a closely knit synergetic outfit. Jorginho’s acqusistion is an exception after the Gunners failed to sign Caicedo from Brighton.
In addition to this, Arsenal has avoided extrvagant expenditure on new players. Instead, the Gunners have invested in the academy, which has provided players like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
The results of this astute player acquisition policy are out there for everyone to see.
If Chelsea is to attain a semblance of success in the coming season, it will have to learn from the Gunner’s player recruitment game plan.
Prodigous expenditure does not guarantee success
Chelsea paid £22 million to bring in Graham Potter from Brighton which is a bit on the high side. Later on, the Blues paid him another £13 million for terminating his contract after he failed to live up to the expectations.
More recently, Chelsea signed Mikhailo Mudryk for £88 million. But the youngster has failed to make an impression for the Blues.
Araenal, on the other hand, signed Gabriel Martinelli for only £6 million and the Brazilian has been in scintillating form this season.
Chelsea needs to learn that conspicous consumption on new players and managers does not guarantee success on the pitch
Drastic reorganisation can affect players’ performances
After acquiring Chelsea, Tod Boehly embarked on an aggressive restructuring exercise. Marina Granovskaia the Director was shown the door.
Petr Cech, the technical and performance advisor was dispensed with, and Bruce Buck, the chairman, was similarly edged out.
Tod Boehly even made himself the sporting director for sometime. This abrupt reorganisation and other bad decisions affected the players performance, triggering a downward spiral that culminated in Potter’s dismissal.
Arsenal has also undertaken some organizational restructuring in the recent past but the changes have been gradual, subtle and well thought out.
Chelsea fans may not like to be compared with Arsenal but the truth of the matter is that the Blues have much to gain and nothing to lose from emulating the Gunner’s astute, prudent and successful management blueprint.
Kennedy Mwanzia
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