Chelsea have spoilt the party
The latest media-driven criticism aimed at Chelsea is that Roman Abramovich’s millions have turned a competitive league into a procession. This is tripe of such immense proportions that it richly deserves to be slapped down.
First of all let’s examine the notion that the top division in English football has long been a happy haven of competitiveness, until Chelsea spoilt the party (I’ll leave out Glossop Engineers doing daring deeds in the 1880s). Instead I’m going to look at the modern era, the last 30 years, from the 1975/76 season onwards. In that time, prior to Chelsea’s win last season, 8 clubs had won the League: Liverpool 10 times, Manchester United 8 times, Arsenal 5 times, Everton twice, with Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Blackburn and Leeds United all recording one triumph each.
What that tells you straight away is that three clubs have utterly dominated English football in modern times, between them winning 23 out of the last 29 League titles. The trend is also very clear; if you narrow it down to the last 20 years, losing Forest and Villa from that list, it’s 17 from 20 for the top three. If you further narrow it to the last ten years you lose everyone bar Manchester United and Arsenal, giving a ‘perfect’ 10 from 10. The big fish had grown so big there was no room in the pond for anyone else. That’s a fact.
Is anyone seriously claiming that because Abramovich bought Michael Essien and Shaun Wright-Phillips that this has cruelly denied any of Charlton, Wigan, Spurs, Birmingham, Newcastle, West Ham, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Blackburn, West Brom, Everton, Villa, Bolton, Middlesbrough or Fulham their shot at the title this season? Does anyone seriously think if Chelsea had not come along it would be Wigan and Portsmouth jostling for top spot? No disrespect to those clubs incidentally, I’m just using them as an example. What the Premier League had become was a nasty, elitist feeding frenzy where only three clubs, and more recently only two clubs, could sink their noses into the trough.
You tell me how this situation was supposed to keep the spirit of competitiveness burning bright? The big three got all the UEFA Champions League money, the big three got the vast majority of the TV money, the big three got the most prize money for league placing, the big three all voted to keep their huge gate receipts for themselves, the big three got the biggest sponsorship deals. Basically the rich got richer and to hell with the rest of us. Incidentally, the big three are all in G14, an organisation exclusively and unashamedly devoted to keeping snouts firmly in the trough.
You could argue that these three had got so far ahead of the rest that the only way for anyone outside this charmed circle to break in was to spend the kind of money Abramovich has spent. You tell me how West Ham or Charlton, for example, were ever going to overhaul Manchester United or Arsenal, or even Liverpool? The fact is they were never ever going to and nor was anyone else, including Chelsea, until Abramovich came along. That is also a fact.
The other implication in the statement that the League has suddenly become predictable is that no one can possibly catch Chelsea any more, which is also a huge load of tripe. There are at least three clubs who could overhaul Chelsea this season; see if you can guess who those three clubs are? Yup, you got it, the Trough Boys, all bent out of shape because someone else has stuck their snout in. Much as I dislike all three of them they all have the players and the potential to beat Chelsea, no question. The large yellow streak that has appeared is mainly media-based, it isn’t generated by the three clubs’ fans, who aren’t as gutless as the press.
Sure Abramovich’s money has only helped one club and all we’re really doing is elbowing in to take a place at the trough, that I cannot deny. I would genuinely prefer it if 10 clubs had a realistic chance of winning the League (as long as one of them wasn’t Spurs). Nothing would give me greater pleasure than an almighty scramble on the last day, between a host of clubs, to determine where the title went. But that’s impossible because to even get into a position to challenge the Trough Boys you need to drop at least £200m.
Nor were Chelsea exactly bottom of the pile when the cash dropped in; in the period prior to Abramovich’s arrival we had won FA Cups, League Cups, Cup Winners’ Cups, European Super Cups, finished an agonising 4 points off the title one year and qualified more than once for the Champions League. In the Premier League we were usually jostling for the prize the Trough Boys allowed the rest of us to have: 4th place. Even from there it took a vast amount of cash to propel Chelsea into Trough Boy status, again proving how far ahead of the rest the original Tough Boys had got.
There are rumours that West Ham and Aston Villa could be bought out by investors. The sooner the better as far as I’m concerned. The nostalgic notion that England’s top league is competitive was out of date 20 years ago. All English football has been for many a long year is a self-fulfilling glory chain for three clubs.
Now it’s four. I sincerely hope a few more arrive. Then the only thing that would be predictable is more squealing from the clubs who’ve had it their own way for far too long.
Related links:
- Chelsea rivals need to win, not whinge
- Premiership is set to lose 500,000 fans
- Top flight is still a thriller
- Fans vote with feet as costs carry on rising
- Time is right for Ferguson to go on the attack
- Title race is wide open - Lampard
- Chelsea have duty to reach for stars - and find beauty
- Fear and Loathing
- Paying the price
- Fan apathy could hit players, warns agent
- Don’t blame Chelsea
- Chelsea not to blame for boring Premiership
- Big three clubs join talks to halt fan drift
- Posted at 08:38 PM · Permalink · Print · 3852 views · Last indexed by Google on the 7th May 2008
- Tags: Blingo Starr, Premiership
I have to say this is one of the most intelligent pieces of writing I’ve seen in a long time!
This guy should be the Sports writer for the Standard and any other new paper that has the sense to employ him!
Blue Heaven!
Top, top article. However, reality is that the press knows all these facts. So, why have they declared war against Chelsea?
First, upcoming Chelsea Empire will not only be created BESIDE of existing powers. Roman planed to build blue empire ON TOP of at least Arsenal and Liverpool. Put this way, Arsenal and Pool are “assigned to exterminationâ€?.
Second, the media (especially newscorp (e.g. SKY-FOX)) spent decades of marketing for ManU, Pool and Arsenal. These clubs have enormous fan-bases (translation – a lots of muppets). They just will not survive without success. Depressed muppets will stop to buy the media products. Result: the media will suffer.
Third, English traditional conservatism. Kingdoms should go on and on.
Willis you are entirely too insightful and intelligent which explains why you are a Chelsea supporter I suppose :) I’m loving it all the media subversion, Wenger’s veiled contempt, the xenophobic and ultimately inconsequential vitriol from an army of haters from the Kop to UEFA all grist to the mill. I love who we are, how we got there, what we’re doing and how much it ruffles everybody’s feathers. We know we’ll never get respect from the resentful and I for one can live with that! Accuse us of being arrogant boring bad for football or anything else but you still have to beat us. The only thing I’d like to see more of from now on (and I think we’re beginning to see it) is to be more sporting and gracious as a team and club and not so irascible in the global footballing arena and it’s only for our own self image and club development (it’s good to stand for something apart from just winning) a nothing to do about being accepted by the establishment the media and the fans of other clubs. Anyway it’s blue skies and it’s a beautiful thing that’s going on!
Interesting article.
Just some points though.
1. All other fans think that the media are in Chelsea’s pocket, so not sure why you think you are victimised by the media. At the moment, you own them, although it could change
2. Everyone else hates you not because you ‘bought’ the title (Which you did), but because of the arrogance. Money does not buy history or class. fans waving money etc don’t help either.
3. Boring football. How can you spend 400million and still be boring. your manager is houllier with a limitless budget, thats all.
4. Ticket prices. How many chelsea fans would sacrifice an ‘essien’ or ‘drogba’ for a ticket price they could afford? when the man has that much money, and spends that much on players, subsidising the clubs tickets, at least until you build a stronger reputation would make sense.
5. The twat you got from man yoo for your ceo. the most hted man in football, and you sign him.
I actually don’t care that you have the money, as on the pitch its 11v11 anyway (see european cup semi! ;-)), but its more about the way the fans carry themselves and the clubs attitude. Cole, arnesen, that young african bloke with man u etc from the club. charging true blue fans 50 quid for a ticket. the way the fans cannot hold intelligent conversation without reducing it to abuse (watch the response to this comment for case in point).
Absolutely spot on article. Well done on putting it all in perspective. The analysis of the last b30 years was quite an eye opener I had not realised that it had only been a handful of the same clubs winning it all season after season. So wrapped was I in Chelsea season after season I had not really taken in the same old same old at the top, as we were hardly ever up there.
The bit about Roman’s money only helping one club is slightly disingenuous to Roman while, in fact we are the only English club he has invested in, the money he provided to Chelsea to buy English players has helped West Ham to stay afloat, unfortunately, when they were relegated and Southampton were helped out of a hole when we bought Bridge and gave them Soxy at the same time. The money given to any English club is still mostly slopping around in the English game but you never see the red shirted journos from any papers, tabloid or otherwise, pointing that out.
All other fans think the media are in Chelsea’s pocket? I don’t know what press you read but the sniping aimed at Chelsea is pretty much non stop. Lest we forget it was the press who shopped us for meeting Cole! Not sure how a Liverpool fan can complain about tapping up either, Houllier took Ziege to dinner two or three times while Ziege was still at Boro, and they had not given Liverpool permission to contact him.
The Obi Mikel case which you cite is ridiculous, Chelsea paid for him to be sent to Norway and they paid for a club to take care of him. That club then ’sold’ him behind Chelsea’s back as soon as he had passed 18 and was no longer on a junior contract. Nor have Chelsea said anything in public about the case. This really proves my point in a way, people believe what they are fed by the press. And where Chelsea are concerned the press is usually negative.
I’m not a huge fan of Kenyon but the remark he was slated for was a tongue in cheek joke made in an interview for the club’s TV station. He immediately went on to say that he was expecting it to be very tough and that Arsenal, United and Liverpool would all be right up there. Was this ever reported? Was it hell.
I would also be a bit more circumspect about calling other teams boring if I was a Liverpool fan. Four league games, three nil-nils and one goal scored, a free kick against Sunderland. If Chelsea are so boring why is Benitez playing the same style? I can recognise that Benitez is a good manager, yet it seems impossible for any Liverpool fan to acknowledge Mourinho might also be good at his job.
The point about ticket prices is totally valid though. The club has never, ever had any interest in the fans, right back to when when Bates wanted to electrify the fences around the pitch. That has not changed and frankly the ticket prices at Stamford are a disgrace. Sadly for us the ground sells out for every League game, if Chelsea fans don’t go (and increasingly they don’t) there are plenty who will.
I think you also mistake having a history with having a history of success. Chelsea have plenty of history, we just don’t have a history as part of the elite. Your comment is a bit like an aristocrat telling a working man he has no family because he has no family crest, ironic coming from a Liverpool fan!
Blingo to tell you the truth I don’t know wich one I like the most, if the article or the comment.
BRAVO!
yeah Blingo man you rock! Hey kopstar I agree with you about the kissing money thing it’s crass but apart from that I think your arguments are specious and facile. We’re always up for an intelligent discussion here as Blingo’s perspicacious rebuttal to your assertions attest. After all we’re not the shirt burners you guys are. Tell me are you looking forward to next week as much as we are? We’re all REALLY looking forward to it round here!
Blingo, all good comments, and appreciate the effort in explaining your comments.
I realise that liverpool are not that interesting at the moment. but having spent so much money on the team, you would at least expect some real entertainment. look at the way arsenal played in their unbeaten season.
mourihno is a top coach, and I don’t think that is in doubt by anyone. However, because he has ‘bought’ trophies, and the change in personality since coming to chelsea will overshadow his achievements. Anyone who knew him before would say he is acting out of character. its probably a show to take attention off the team. he is only doing his job, but unfortunately, money will always overshadow his achievements. And until the play improves to barcelona/scum (99 era) and arsenal level, mourinho will always be regarded as a houllier with money.
ziege case is a good discussion too. the point is, chelsea were considered ‘arrogant’ for the way they did it, in the public eye. I’m sure all the clubs do it, but they do it in private.
the obi mikel case I have a different story, (not from the press), and it looks like the player is going to man u so there is point to be made there.
forget the comment that kenyon made about the title. I actually think he was right to be honest (look at the form this season). but he is a twat, period.
history or class was not referring to lack of titles or entry to the elite. More about the way the club carries itself. the semi final in the CL and the barcelona game took a lot of the shine away from the club. waving money at opposing clubs, is not particularly funny or smart. taking the piss out of tragedies of other clubs is not clever.
I know there are a good core of chelsea supporters who are being pushed out of the club, and being replaced by glory hunters and I feel for the real fans like you. I hope the club see sense, and drop the ticket prices, and give the kind of fliar performances that the money spent should have.
QPR will be joining the big boys soon.
I have a bunch of tickets here to the Bosnian lottery. I feel lucky.
I feel no pity for the Man Utd’s, Arsenal’s or the Liverpool’s. Bought success themselves. Now they know how it feels to be relatively skint.
Look, the point is an easy one to grasp: chelseas money is coming from outside football. the european elite, for all their riches, were getting money from their teams, not oil fields.
Uhh…..has anyone cared to consider that Arsenal and Man Utd EARNED their dosh to compete at the top echelon of English Football? I would be the first to say Man U can go stick their head up their arse, but they have history, players, and skill to earn the following they did, and hence get the gate reciepts in, hence becoming an English superpower.
Arsenal were even more amazing, with a far more frugal budget (theyre a rich club but comparisons with Man U are…..silly), yet creating gems out of nothing, to oust Man Utd from the pedestal they had built. Arsenal, incidently, were a middle table struggler before Wenger came in.
The reason everyone hates Chelsea is because they never earned their place where they are. The only reason to their success is because of billions of pounds flowing into the vaults from their sugardaddy.
No wonder ManU and Arsenal fans are seething.
Kopstar, you need to realise one thing; no matter how well Chelsea plays you and other rival fans whose throats are swelling with bitterness and envy, will always find it boring as long as we continue to dominate the premiership.
Did you watch the Charlton game? Did you see Crespo’s goal against Wigan or Charlton? Where do you honestly see such kind of skill? From ManU? No. From Liverpool, certainly not. For me Crespo is simply one of the most gifted strikers in the world. That kind of movement and cat like balance in the air is what you get for paying 17mill. I am hoping that crespo will go on and rediscover the form he had at Intermillan. One thing is for certain, you will not get that type of skill by taking 3 months to thrash out a 7 million deal for Peter Crouch. You obviously either know nothing about football or your bitterness has scrambled your thinking.
The only thing you can boast about is a fluke Cup. If I were a Liverpool fan I would be worried. Have you forgotten how to win a premier league match or what? 75% draws!
I have no clue where a Liverpool blog is? The fact that we keep getting bitter posts from rival fans speaks for itself. Let me point you to somewhere where you will get a good advice. http://www.thefootballforum.ne.....opic=61079
Samba Mapangala
My point, which most seem to have missed, was that the top clubs had sealed themselves in. You can say that these clubs ‘earned’ their money from within football, or you could look it more objectively. The advent of SKY, the UEFA Champions League becoming a money pot, Bosman, the advent of big time marketing in football and various other aspects of football ‘branding’ all combined to ensure that those at the top would continue to stay there. This also, very conveniently, ensured that no other club could ever hope to break into this upper echelon. This is not my opinion, it is a fact, look at the statistics of who won what and how often if you don’t believe me.
Football had become a cartel, look who contested the FA CUP final each year, look who won the League each year, look who got into the Champions League each year. To me that was the epitome of predictability, 17 clubs started each season knowing none of them would win the league. Exhilarating huh?
The idea that there was a level playing field was just ridiculous. I would expect Liverpool fans, more than anyone else, to appreciate that. Your club was being squeezed out of the top three, who had narrowed the elite down to a top two. So much so that Liverpool was nearly bought by a Thai politician. How nearly I don’t know but the very fact it was even being discussed tells you something.
Really, you need to think for yourselves and not swallow what the press feed you. I understand only too well that Chelsea’s money comes from ‘outside football’, what I’m asking you to understand is that this was the ONLY way any club, Chelsea or anyone else, was going to be able to compete. That is everyone’s problem, if your allegiance to your club blinds you to that then you are part of the problem. Fans need to see what is going on, one thing fans definitely need to do is see beyond Chelsea as the root of all evil. Football currently has a big problem and, though we’re an easy target,it isn’t Chelsea.
Kopstar, I’m sure you have your reasons but your arguments aren’t that convincing. For a start Mourinho won the Champions League with Porto. With respect this is a far, far bigger achievement than winning it with Liverpool. Just as an example Porto have not spent well over £100m on players in the last few seasons, as Liverpool have. So Mourinho certainly did not buy his reputation.
You also seem to think there is difference between Chelsea tapping up Cole and Liverpool tapping up Ziege, I can assure you there isn’t. John Obi Mikel as I’ve said, is no indication of anything as Chelsea have made no comment at all. Ferguson thinks he’s got the player, we will see.
I grant you Mourinho’s antics in Barcelona were over the top, however it is a fact that Rijkaard was pestering the referee at half time. Rijkaard was also told three times to leave the referee alone and go back to the Barca changing room. This came from Frisk himself, so we can assume it’s true. However I believe Mourinho should have raised this issue in private, not aired it publicly.
As for chants about tragedies, I’ve not heard anything recently from Chelsea fans but I can guess what you are talking about. Every club has a minority who take things too far, Liverpool included. There were Spurs fans, at our recent game with them, singing a pleasant little ditty about ‘Mathew Harding’s helicopter going down’, but it was only a few hundred so you just have to ignore it. You cannot characterise a club from the actions of an extreme few.
Anyway, I look forward to resuming our rivalry with Liverpool on the field, where it should be. I’d wish you luck but you had so much of it last season that I don’t feel you need anymore!
great article.
two points:
1) all the media attention (positive/negative) generates new fans for Chelsea. it’s alot easier to follow a team that leads off every telecast. when possible, the blues try to be sensational. i worry that management is trading domestic fans, with the high ticket prices, for fans abroad.
2) because of the hegemony of a few, i think we’ll start seeing more abramovich’s buying up English teams. on the American side, there are only 120 teams and the revenue is chopped up mostly equally. In england, you reap what you sow. Liverpool (Kraft family), for example, could be in American hands by the end of the year. i find this hilarious. the tactics used to decrease competition in your league have made your sports teams the ideal boys with their toys acquisition by foreigners.
lucky? Lucky?? please explain why we were ‘lucky’ to win the champions league? we came out of the group, we comfortably beat leverkusen, we beat the italian champions, the english champions, and then came back from 3-0 in the final. where was the luck?
In that case, you were lucky the ref didn’t see your defenders trying to manhandle barcelona for the gal. you were lucky that cech wasn’t sent off when Garcia scored that goal (video proof it did cross the line is available, but chelsea funded Sky refuse to play it. I have it if you want to see it)
you could also say we were unlucky when the the nesta handball wasn’t given. or that shevchenko was even on the pitch after his headbutt against Inter.
Samba, moments of brilliance do not make great football. Did YOU watch the game against Wigan?? Even your manager was dissappointed with the performance!
I do think that if you played more free flowing football, and tickets for your grounds were ridiculously cheap you would have more respect. As it is, you don;t. Sorry.
Its a unique situation you are in, and I hope the real chelsea fans don’t continue to get screwed by others motives, and fairweather fans that you will attract.
Best of luck and see you at anfield
How do you explain luck? It is just luck. I mean it is not hard to figure out that in a cup competition anything can happen. Do you think that Grimsby is a better team than Tottenham?
I wouldn’t be bothered about what might have happened in the last year’s competition.
You seem not to have understood what I said! I do not expect you to appreciate the Chelsea way of playing football. You are wasting your time trying to convince us/me about how Chelsea plays.
For me no team plays better football than Chelsea for a number of reasons:
1. We are simply devastating in counter attack. Ask Barcelona. It is unbelievable how we attack on counter. Damien Duff met the guy who was supposed to be marking him on his way back from scoring somewhere far from the Barcelona’s D-area !
2. We can play a good passing game, patiently building up waiting for an opening.
3. We control games and shut out even the best strikers.
4.Individual skills; Crespo, Duff, Robben, Gudjohnsen.
5. Pace: Phillips, Drogba
6. Power and Pace: Drogba, Essien
7.Shooting: Lampard, Huth
8.Best headers of the ball: Crespo, John Terry, Drogba
People say Chelsea’s way of play has changed since Gullit or Vialli. I have never noticed the difference. I enjoy Chelsea playing now as much as they used to play under Vialli. For example nothing brought me more joy than seeing Chelsea hammer ManU 5-0 at Stamford Bridge or the 3-1 win over Barcelona in the Champions league Quarterfinals of 2000. The reason why I enjoy seeing Chelsea is simple. I am a Chelsea fan.
You seem deluded to think that Wigan outplayed us. Actually we were the better team. Just pull out the opta stats. Wigan put in a good game but we were still the better team; however I am not deluded not to understand your lopsided view of the match.
One thing…
Chelsea may be boring this season (like many are saying) but the quality of our game is still above everyone’s else. Probably that is why the fans are not turning up to watch those other matches.
Everyone expects us to play one style of football. Arsenal is always running with minimal tactics evident. For those that are still living in the 80’s football has changed.
When I here all this nonsense…It makes me realize how little people know about football. The current state of affairs is to employ the following in your game:
1. The SWOT analysis - Opponents weakness - Your Strength. Gone are the days when teams would just charge at each other and hope for the other to cow down. Arsenal’s game - that is why their game is easily being countered.
2. The Big Striker - Funny we learnt this from Bolton and trust me it is very logical. Most central defenders are big guys - why play a small guy? Crouch in preference of Owen (Not that big a guy though tall enough - we can see that Benitez is picking up on Mourinho’s approach)
3. A Tactical Coach - Tactical football wins games - short of my list here is Wenger - He relies only on the talent and skill of his players with minimal effort on tactics - my view. No one will challenge his eye for talent - but I would rank him even behind Ranieri tactically. England the order is Mourinho, Benitez, Fergie though he is losing it now, The Wigan Coach, Alladyce, Stuart and the rest follow - My view. Few team are playing this way
I present this with a lot of personal feeling to it though most of these items are factual. Just watch the game!!!
Hey Musumba man you are absolutely right…..in fact Jose is the best coach both tactical and consequential point of view. and in fact wenger and co. can produce no good results if they are given an average team but what jose can do …..anybody can go to Porto and ask
and saying chelsea are playing boring game…………..its just frostation of the big guys and nothing more
The thing about Chelsea fans is we know our team we can back up all our arguments on the pitch. We’re no 90’s glamour team we’re honest hard working and earnest on the pitch. We have speed power skill and a killer instinct. We have a peerless coach with a host tactical variations and a thousand ways to hurt you a defence like the wall of China and an indomitable spirit. We play with heart and backbone and with more sustained intensity than any other PL clubs (just ask Charlton). We can put out your lights in a second with counter attacking play we can wear you down until you make a fatal mistake and kill you off or we can come at you with all guns blazing and roll straight over the top of you. We play hard but we play fair and these are the reasons we are a winning side the statistics (which cannot lie) bear it out. Yes we have money but money doesn’t buy ALL of the qualities mentioned above. The world can moan all it likes but in the end you MUST find a way to beat us and frankly while teams fans associations anybody prefers to live in denial about how and why we’re so good it will be impossible to come up with tactics that actually do beat us and not just one fluke game but consistently. People may not respect the owner or the club or the fans but it they don’t respect the team they WILL lose. And one final thing others may love their clubs and hate us (we can live with that) but a man who can’t give credit where credit is due is a small man.
Four? Hmm… a Liverpool fan plays the money card - again. The word ‘defeatism’ sprung to my mind on reading it.
FC Porto is not an average team. It has better records than Chelsea, by example. Check football records and statistics, and you could be suprised to see FC Porto in the top best world clubs, with 1 European Supercup, 1 Uefa Cup, 2 Toquio Cups (best world club), 2 Champions Leagues.
Porto were before José, winners of Champions league, and World Club Champions. What Porto doesnt have is money, everytime Porto makes a team to win something the clubs with more money just buy the team best players. (Porto lost more than 20 players after becoming european champion in just 2 seasons) But more things than money make clubs great, and Chelsea fans know it.