Chelsea are struggling without the ‘core’ group they had in their glory days, claims former Blues and England defender, who says it will ‘take time’ for the squad to gel together
- Former Chelsea defender offers some transfer advice to owner Todd Boehly
- The Blues have spent over £1bn in transfers since Boehly took over last year
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘ It’s All Kicking Off ‘
A former Chelsea favourite has offered up transfer advice to his former club by suggesting an easier route for future recruitment plans.
Since taking ownership of the club last summer Todd Boehly has spent over £1bn on new players in just three transfer windows, leaving the Blues will a squad full to the brim of new arrivals.
However, one former Chelsea star doesn’t agree with the way Boehly has gone about his transfer business and believes there is a better way to achieve success.
Former defender Gary Cahill is of the opinion that is less is more for the club, and that they’d find more reward in adding one or two players at a time, rather than investing in a wrath new names in every window.
Speaking to Hayters, Cahill said: ‘When you’re in transition and the team’s evolving and changing, when we were successful here we had the core of the team and then we added one or two players to that and that’s a lot easier to adapt those players into the system and the football club.
Former Blues defender Gary Cahill has offered some transfer advice to his old club’s owners
The signing of Cole Palmer sent Chelsea’s spending to over the £1bn mark in three windows
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has invested heavily into recruiting new players for the club
‘When you have so many changes, it does take time. The ability is there, first and foremost, but it takes time to learn this league and get experience. You get experience good and bad, football’s not all roses.
They’ve had a few sticky results and that will give them some experience. In contrast to that, the manager has obviously got bundles of experience in this league, so I think he’s a great person to guide them through this.’
Despite Chelsea’s lavish outlay it hasn’t brought success on the pitch, with the club finishing a lowly 12th in the Premier League last season – their lowest position since 1995.
They appointed Mauricio Pochettino in the summer, but the Argentine’s team have stuttered into the new campaign, having suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the last game before the international break.
However, Cahill has faith in the Blues latest boss and his young team, but warns it could take time for the team to be firing on all cylinders.
Adding: ‘Obviously it’s quite disappointing in terms of the results but the average age of the squad is very, very young and it’s a new squad that’s been put together.
Cahill’s era included a key group of players who would win two Premier League titles
Mauricio Pochettino has been backed by Cahill and he says the manager just needs time
‘A lot of them have not got huge experience in football just yet and certainly not in the Premier League so that will take time, it’s a very hard league.
‘But there’s bundles of talent. I was away on pre-season with them and saw the training, and I was very impressed. But this will obviously take time. Time and patience and let these young players develop.’
Cahill spent eight seasons in west London, winning two Premier League titles, two FA Cups, the League Cup, two Europa League’s and the 2012 Champions League.
The former England defender returned to Stamford Bridge this weekend as part of Chelsea Legends team, scoring a goal in the 4-0 win over Bayern Munich, in a match that was a tribute to the late Gianluca Vialli.