In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including why Todd Boehly blinked at Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino’s ‘unfinished business’ at Spurs, Nagelsmann links to Chelsea, why Brendan Rodgers won’t manage in the top four again, and much more.
Todd Boehly blinked at Chelsea when he should’ve held his nerve
I think what Chelsea needed to do and what they were desperate to do under Todd Boehly was to try and get a coach in to develop the best young players coming through – the Lukaku’s, Salah’s and De Bruyne’s of yesteryear – and buy in the best young players from around the world, which makes perfect sense. Basically Boehly blinked, and he blinked at a time when Chelsea should’ve held on. Chelsea were never going to get into the top four this season. Maybe Europe wasn’t out of the question, and the theory was Graham Potter was going to get to the end of the season, then he could get rid of about 15/20 bodies from an incredibly over bloated squad and have a full pre-season with the players he then had.
With him being sacked now, all it’s created is another owner after Abramovich, that’s ‘boom and bust.’ Under Roman, Jose Mourinho had a free hit for about four or five years because no other club on the planet could spend what Chelsea spent. Now, Manchester City can, Newcastle can, the Qataris at Man United will. Liverpool may well get inward investment. There are clubs that are richer than Chelsea. The options and potential for success that Chelsea had, I would say is now almost zero because you’re saying in the next 10 years you’re expecting the other club owners to not put money into those clubs or get it spectacularly wrong, which they might for one season, but not all of the clubs are going to get it wrong every season.
Boehly wanted to crowbar as many young players in the club as quickly as possible but that doesn’t mean they’ll go on to be a great team. If it’s Julian Nagelsmann or whoever that comes in, the pressure is automatically on. Look at Mikel Arteta; when the pressure was on him the most, the Arsenal board said ‘no he’s not going’. I’m not a massive fan of Mikel but he’s rammed my words back down my throat because he’s a hop, skip and a jump away from winning the title. That’s what Chelsea needed and Boehly’s got rid of the progressive coaching whilst spending a ton of cash.Fans are now going to expect him to spend the money and sack managers every six to eight months. That means Chelsea are always going to hover between fourth and sixth, might win the title once every seven years but that’s not going to be enough for Chelsea fans.
Graham Potter came to coach and have an identifiable style but that isn’t there because he wasn’t given the opportunity to do that. He’s not had a summer transfer window to whittle down 35-40 players and do some team building. I spoke to him at Cobham and again on holiday and I wanted to ask about his philosophy and he said it’s all about bringing good people into the organisation, but being calm and settled is the opposite of what Chelsea were.
Losing to Villa was unacceptable yes, but whoever comes in now has to know that the ‘sugar rush’ of hiring and firing managers is back at the Bridge and they can forget about proactive coaching and developing a team over a few years. Chelsea’s new manager has to know that it’s winning trophies in the here and now.
Potter made the effort to try and change the culture at Chelsea and stuck to his principles, but it was always like pushing water up a hill there. The experience will stand him in good stay for the future and he won’t get a better fit than at Leicester. There’s a very persuasive argument for him to go there. They’ve got a quality squad of younger players, he’s still a young manager and a coach who makes players better. He won’t go to Spurs because they need someone with a bigger personality.
Poch has unfinished business at Spurs
I think Mauricio Pochettino going back to Tottenham is a case of unfinished business. Daniel Levy will definitely have buyers remorse for letting him go. I was in the press conference after the Champions League final, one game that can go either way, and Poch was also responsible for nearly getting Spurs to the title in the Leicester season. That’s the closest they’ve come to the really big prizes since the double in 1961 and I can imagine Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy thinking “we made a mistake, can we find him £200m-£300m for the next two to three transfer windows.” Then they’d be up there challenging. If he returned, Spurs fans would be doing cartwheels. They’ve got a big stadium, pay good money and he’ll be tempted to be that manager that wants to win that trophy. If Real Madrid or Chelsea come calling though, that love he has for Spurs can only buy so much. It’s a mercenary business, and wanting to be somewhere is a massively secondary point. Look at Mudryk. He wanted to go to Arsenal but ended up at Chelsea.
Brendan Rodgers won’t manage in the top four again
You can argue that Brendan could be seen as the Chelsea man because he was there in the Mourinho years, but you don’t get sacked from Leicester and go to Chelsea. I don’t think for a minute that they’ll take him, they’ll go for a bigger name. Palace might have employed him if he’d been given his marching orders sooner, but I think he’ll take a sabbatical now. Come the summer, if De Zerbi goes then there’s a possibility the Brighton position opens up or maybe the likes of Leeds, Brentford…
Fans will like what they watch because Brendan does have a pro-active style of play and he develops players, but when Leicester couldn’t spend money because of Covid, that’s when he should’ve been at his best and I don’t think he did that. His team was being labelled as turgid and flat, and that’s why Brendan’s days in top four are probably done unless he get’s a club back up there. A club that can pay him the money firstly, and one that’s in the bottom half and wanting to get back into the top half, with one eye on a European shout.
Newcastle will challenge on all fronts with key additions….
To get through the tough Premier League games, I think Newcastle need to get another back-up striker, an out and out number nine and one who’s relatively happy to take a back seat. Someone like a Danny Ings type figure works for me. They’ve got the likes of Isak, Saint-Maximin and Wilson up in attack but I don’t think you can have too many strikers at a big club. Look how Everton have struggled without Dominic Calvert-Lewin… Spurs always seem to dip if Harry Kane gets an injury… Liverpool without the likes of Gakpo, Nunez or Diaz.
They also need a dominant central midfielder that doesn’t mind getting forward and into the box, and a left back. Eddie Howe needs to be allowed to continue with his evolution at the club, not a revolution because they don’t need seven, eight or nine new players.
England need to take a look at Willock
England are only about 14 months away from the Euros and the hope is that they’ll do very well. Gareth needs to open up the door at St. George’s Park and give Joe Willock a look. Of course, players like Mason Mount and Jack Grealish will always be in the picture but we’ve struggled in the second half of games and if we’re talking about getting the right balance and blend, then let’s take a look at Willock in competitive matches.
The same with Ivan Toney. Players like that shouldn’t be dismissed. Toney is a clever footballer. Whether he goes left or right on the edge of the box he’ll twist and turn you and offers something different to say an Ollie Watkins. I’m a Villa fan, but not the biggest fan of Ollie. He’s great at running in behind, but there’s not always that kind of space at international level. I’ve got nothing against Ollie but if it’s a simple choice of giving caps right up until the Euros, give them to Ivan Toney all day long.
Differing fortunes at my old clubs
Liverpool’s midfield is either too old or too young and they need to rectify that this summer. Villa are ticking along very nicely with the master of European football, Unai Emery, at the helm. I’m very comfortable with him. Forest have just got to keep wining games at the City Ground. That’s where their Premier League survival is because they’re rubbish on the road.