This has only been the second time that I’ve felt the need and found the energy to write a blog post about Chelsea. It’s been 3 days since the 2025/2026 season has finished. Chelsea have finished 10th, without securing ANY European football, an abject failure, and Arsenal, one of our bitter rivals have won the premier league [1]. Besides one or two pundits, it wasn’t expected that we would win the title, and wasn’t something that I expected us to do.

At the beginning of the season, besides losing Levi Colwill to a season long injury [2], things were looking quite positive, probably the best I’ve felt under the current ownership since BlueCo purchased the club in 2022. We had just had a great season under Enzo Maresca, winning The Conference League, becoming the only team to win every major European Trophy. We then went to America, and won the new Fifa Club World Cup, resoundingly beating current European Champions Paris Saint Germain 3-0. In the Premier League we also finished a respectable fourth, qualifying for The Champions League. Things were looking up.

By December, any sense of optimism for the future had evaporated, ‘The Project’, as it’s been called and referred to as occasionally [3] went out the window. Maresca was sacked on the 2nd of January [4]. We were still on track to finish in the top 4 this season again under him, and whilst it’s true that we had some off results, he is still a new manager, learning on the job, The players are young, and learning as well. We struggled a lot defensively, with Colwill’s injury clearly not helping, and us not backing Maresca with a new defender.

The new ownership seem to have an obsession with buying as much young talent as possible. I have no issue with buying these young players, but everyone, from fans, to qualified pundits, have been screaming for 18 months to buy some experience, which we glaringly need on the pitch [5]. Now, the club are seeing the obvious and saying they’ll be changing the policy slightly, and they may have gotten things wrong [6]. If these ‘experts’ can’t get see the obvious for two years, what hope do we have? We have wasted so much money on players that have had little to no impact, such as Alejandro Garnacho (€46.20m) and Jamie Gittens (€56.00m) [7], players that the majority of fans didn’t want, with the money easily spent more effectively.

Not only did break Chelsea, but pulling Rosenior out of Strasbourg where he was doing great ruined his fantastic development, and Strasbourg as well [8]. They should be the Conference League final, and have players growing under him, such as Anselmino we took back from Dortmund.

Then it comes to commercial side of the club. We have not had a stable front of shirt sponsor since BlueCo took over, with a couple of interim companies whom most haven’t heard of stepping in [9]. Behdad Eghbali said we “not terribly well managed on the football side, sporting side or promotional side” [10]. The lack of major sponsor is appalling and a sign of utter incompetence.

The Future

Looking to the future, it seems the club have gotten it right, and appointed Xabi Alonso, arguably the best coach available, and one of the most exciting prospects. Given we will be playing far less football, there should be a strong chance that he can embed his ideas and be given adequate time to teach the squad. On top of that, hopefully he is backed in terms of squad planning, moving the surplus players on, bringing in who he needs.

I’m personally stoked to see him at the club, and can’t wait to see what he can do.

There is also the cloud hanging over Maresca’s departure, and him potentially leaving for the Manchester City job [12]. That may have influenced his decision to leave, however the question remains, why did the club(s), and all the progress we made, have to be thrown completely away, only to start afresh again?

References

[1] “Premier League Table,” Sky Sports. [Online]. Available: https://www.skysports.com/premier-league-table. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[2] “Injury update: Levi Colwill,” Chelsea FC Official Website. [Online]. Available: https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/injury-update-levi-colwill. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[3] J. Smith, “Chelsea, Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior analysis,” The Guardian, Jan. 2, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/02/chelsea-enzo-maresca-liam-rosenior-analysis. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[4] “Chelsea confirm Enzo Maresca exit amid poor Premier League run and breakdown in relations,” ESPN Australia. [Online]. Available: https://www.espn.com.au/football/story/_/id/47469870/chelsea-confirm-enzo-maresca-exit-amid-poor-premier-league-run-breakdown-relations. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[5] “Chelsea, Maresca, experience, Boehly and Eghbali,” The Athletic (New York Times), May 4, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6331561/2025/05/04/chelsea-maresca-experience-boehly-eghbali/. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[6] “Behdad Eghbali lifts lid on Chelsea,” Football.London. [Online]. Available: https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/news/behdad-eghbali-lifts-lid-chelsea-33787432. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[7] “FC Chelsea – Transfers,” Transfermarkt. [Online]. Available: https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-chelsea/alletransfers/verein/631. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[8] “A deep dive into Liam Rosenior and his Strasbourg side,” Breaking The Lines. [Online]. Available: https://breakingthelines.com/tactical-analysis/a-deep-dive-into-liam-rosenior-and-his-strasbourg-side/. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[9] “Chelsea announce AI company IFS as shirt sponsor until end of season,” ESPN Australia. [Online]. Available: https://www.espn.com.au/football/story/_/id/47988573/chelsea-announce-ai-company-ifs-shirt-sponsor-end-season. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[10] “Eghbali: Chelsea were not terribly well managed on the football side, sporting side, promotional side,” We Ain’t Got No History, Dec. 24, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2022/12/24/23525031/eghbali-chelsea-were-not-terribly-well-managed-on-the-football-side-sporting-side-promotional-side. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[11] CFCNewsReport, “Post on X,” X (formerly Twitter), Aug. 2025. [Online]. Available: https://x.com/CFCNewsReport/status/2059353187098730831. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].

[12] “Enzo Maresca agrees to three-year deal to replace Pep Guardiola at Manchester City,” beIN SPORTS, May 26, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.beinsports.com/en-us/soccer/premier-league/articles/enzo-maresca-agrees-to-three-year-deal-to-replace-pep-guardiola-at-manchester-city-2026-05-26. [Accessed: 27-May-2026].