There is a chronic lack of direction at Chelsea which is starting to bear fruit.

The longest serving manager since Abramovich took over is Jose Mourinho. He lasted
three years in first spell as manager, and nearly the same amount in his second spell.

Since Abramovich took over, Chelsea have gone through 11 managers. That is 11
managers in a 15 year period. Even by modern standards, that is ridiculous.

Despite this, the club has enjoyed success frequently. The system of hiring and firing
managers has seemed to work. However, recent evidence suggests it may be coming to
an end.

Compared to Manchester City, there appears to be a complete lack of identity at Chelsea

throughout the whole setup. Do we know how Abramovich wants his team to play? He
has long wanted an attractive style of football, but the managers he has appointed are
not the ones who would deliver this style.

The signings have been erratic throughout the years. They have bought big-name
players and seemingly bought players to stop others acquiring them.

Then you have the case of players they have let go. De Bruyne, Lukaku and Salah are the
three foremost examples. They were all let go too early in their development.

Imagine the team Chelsea would have now if those three had remained! Of course,
there’s no guarantee they would have received game time, but someone at the club
must have recognised they had supremely talented players on their hands!

This brings me to the club’s youth development programme. Chelsea have just won their
fifth FA Youth Cup in a row. They obviously have a fantastic youth system, yet, none of
these players has made it into the first team.

Why invest all this money in youth development if you are not going to reap the
benefits?

There is something amiss at Chelsea. There appears to be a complete lack of long-term

thinking at the club, with the short-term much more important than planning for the
future.

This lack of direction is finding its way on to the pitch, as the players seem to know that
a few bad results and the manager will be under pressure and likely leave. In this
scenario, they become stronger than the manager.

You also have to question the club’s recent transfer policy. Did Conte really want Morata,
Barkley and Drinkwater. I’m sceptical. It would appear he was forced to sign these players
when it became apparent he would not be able to sign his intended targets.
Given their resources and fantastic youth development programme, Chelsea should be
looking to dominate the English game, like Manchester united did throughout the early
years of the Premier League.

Yet, the board appears to be happy to jump from manager to manager and live in the
short-term instead of developing a long term strategy a la Manchester City.

The key question is how long they can keep this going before it all crashes down?