Chelsea on the Brink

Finally! We use our squad, give a few of our main players a rest and hey presto – not only have we given our fringe people a chance to shine but come back with a win! Why did you not use this tactic earlier Rafa? Then you would not have to moan about how tired the players are! The downside is that we face Manchester United in the next round of the FA Cup and with morale at such a low I dread to think how we perform. Maybe it is a chance to play our fringe squad at Old Trafford too so that at least we can use that as an excuse should we lose against a side which is only superior to us when it comes to strikers.

Some say we should be happy and grateful for what we have achieved over the past decade but I cannot rest on our laurels – we should be a lot further ahead of our peers than we currently are and mentioned in the same breath as the traditional European giants. In the league it is simply depressing to realise that suddenly we are sharing roughly the same points as Tottenham and Arsenal. On paper (Gareth Bale excluded) the strength of our squad should be putting us well clear of our North London rivals.

There is such a morose atmosphere attending Chelsea matches now. The stands have been hijacked by those who have nothing better to do than direct anger at our club’s management. It was almost comical that Sparta Prague scored in the sixteenth minute just as some Chelsea fans began their minute’s worth of applause for Di Matteo. Although I have not joined in with the anti-Benitez chanting I am firmly becoming disenfranchised with the club and am dreading what my own gut reaction will be when season ticket renewal forms hit my doormat.

The days of simply supporting your club and getting behind your team when the chips are down are firmly gone. Any youngsters attending matches at Stamford Bridge these days must wonder if this is what football matches have always been like! Maybe we have been spoilt but the club does no favours for itself with a lack of a clear strategy when it comes to footballing matters. Do they not realise that if we fail to qualify for the Champions’ League then the Tokyo Chelsea Supporters Association (est. 2012) will cease to exist with fewer lucrative replica shirt sales to follow?

The real fear I have is of losing the considerable talent we have at the end of the season should we finish outside the top four. The club needs a drastic overhaul of policy as soon as humanly possible – I am available and love my club to such an extent that am happy to join the board for free to help!