Can you get me three small birds? Todd is a fan of birds and considers them gamechangers. How much are they? Please speak to their representatives. Multiply the price by two. I just want the birds, Costanza.
It has become a common reaction to extract any possible humor from the current Chelsea team building approach. This is typically done using the voice of Larry David imitating George Steinbrenner from Seinfeld, with all respect to other forms of American sports ownership.
Currently, the situation is not the same as it used to be. The initial excessive spending has come to an end. Todd Boehly is no longer actively involved in the business on a day-to-day basis. However, it was difficult not to think about how Chelsea’s greed-driven executive would react to the sudden change of focus at Selhurst Park on Monday evening.
Chelsea were losing 1-0 at half-time and the game was further delayed due to a disagreement involving the referee’s microphone. The away supporters responded by singing along to Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, with a hint of sarcasm, as it played over the loudspeaker. They continued to sing even as Conor Gallagher quickly equalized, and they stuck with the same refrain until Chelsea eventually secured a 3-1 victory. The fans were so impressed with the team’s performance that they chanted for all the players to be signed on permanently.
Chelsea’s current season is unpredictable and fragile, as they are currently 13 points behind fourth place and have had inconsistent performances in recent matches. However, as manager Mauricio Pochettino gets his team ready for their upcoming game against Manchester City on Saturday, they can find solace in their second consecutive away win, a pleasant moment in the rainy weather of Croydon, and possibly even a glimpse of what a cohesive team could potentially look like beneath the current group of players.
The shift after the break was instant, with the midfield triangle of Caicedo-Fernández-Gallagher wresting control of the ball, and Cole Palmer providing a familiar note of cold precision to help make both of Chelsea’s late goals.
Leading up to Saturday’s game, Palmer’s return to the club he joined at just eight years old will serve as a clear storyline. Some may question if City was wrong to sell him, considering his impressive performance with six goals and four assists in 10 games since Christmas.
This situation can be likened to a mutual and uncommon divorce where no one is at fault. It is a transaction that benefits all parties involved. The City, who already had the most formidable attack in Europe, will receive a boost of £40 million due to financial fair play regulations. Palmer’s prediction has been validated – all he needed was playing time. As for Chelsea, they have acquired their most impressive source of creativity since Cesc Fàbregas. Additionally, this player serves as an example of why the strategy of hoarding talent is fundamentally flawed.
This is the paradox of Palmer. Despite his accomplishments, it can be viewed as a cruel irony for Chelsea as it adds to their already excessive spending of half a billion pounds. He was the final signing of Chelsea’s splurge, with £42m spent on deadline day for another young attacking player in his twenties. It seemed puzzling at the time, given that Chelsea had already acquired six other talented young attackers. Why put in so much effort to sign yet another one?
Palmer is the only one of those acquisitions that has proven successful thus far. Despite committing to long-term contracts with a group of players and abandoning any sense of cohesive team building, this signing has emerged as the shining light at the end of the financial tunnel.
The unpredictable aspect of young talent makes it impossible to predict their success in the market. This is especially true when they are all thrown together without any prior knowledge. This was the result of a £1 billion investment, leaving only one successful young player, who arrived after all the others had already been sold.
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Unfortunately, the trend towards more conventional methods of building a team has been dealt another blow. A contributing factor to this was that Joe Shields, who previously oversaw recruitment for Manchester City’s youth academy, had a personal understanding of Palmer’s abilities. Additionally, Palmer’s transition to the Premier League may have been aided by the fact that he was given the opportunity to adapt in a less structured environment than City’s highly organized system. This can be seen as an advantage of Chelsea’s less efficient state, as it allows a young player like Palmer, with his unique and sometimes unconventional skill set, to make mistakes, gain valuable playing time, and learn at his own pace.
Palmer may have a good opportunity to spend Saturday evening chasing the ball on the edges, considering City’s impressive streak of 11 consecutive wins and only six goals allowed. His current record of goals and assists may suggest an even bigger impact, as they have often come from a sense of uncertainty in tactics rather than simply following a set pattern in a team.
Palmer is an unusual creative player generally, gangly but agile, expert in finding the small spaces between the equally small spaces, able to control and manoeuvre the ball in unorthodox ways. He seems to have the classic chess planner brain, scanning three moves ahead, making the perfectly weighted passes that matter. These are rare qualities in a 21-year-old, but none as rare as Palmer’s striking air of calm.
Gareth Southgate selected him for England’s November games, but his chances of making the Euros are slim due to factors like hierarchy and established positions. In international football, there is an element of improvisation and staying calm under pressure. Palmer seems like the type who wouldn’t need reassurance that he belongs on the field.
Currently, a gathering of these two squads presents another chance to contrast City’s consistent upward trajectory with Chelsea’s erratic bursts of turmoil. It has been two and a half years since they faced off in Porto for the Champions League final, a significant moment for Roman Abramovich’s rendition of Chelsea, the first edition of Billionaire Disruptors.
There are currently only three players from Chelsea’s winning team of 23 who are still with the club: Reece James, Thiago Silva, and Ben Chilwell. Meanwhile, Manchester City has retained seven of their starting players, as well as their manager, ownership, and overall direction. Chelsea’s remaining hope rests on their latest addition, a contradictory signing that ultimately exposes the weaknesses, rather than strengths, of building a team with excessive numbers.
Source: theguardian.com
