3 months ago
21 Emmanuel Petit believes Chelsea are ‘lacking experience’ despite another summer of heavy spending.
The Blues have parted with massive sums to acquire the likes of Pedro Neto, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Filip Jorgensen this summer, while also signing ex-Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer.
To offset their spending, Chelsea have managed to sell Ian Maatsen, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson among others, while Conor Gallagher still looks set to leave despite having to fly back to London after his move to Atletico Madrid stalled.
Chelsea ‘lack experience’, says Petit
Petit — who played 76 times for the Blues between 2001 and 2004, scoring three times — has blasted Chelsea’s lack of direction in the transfer market and decision to sell boyhood club Gallagher.
The latter, in Petit’s eyes, also contributes to a serious lack of experience in Enzo Maresca’s squad, despite the lavish sums spent.
“I can understand spending a lot of money on young players, but I don’t get it when you have 40, or 45 players. If I am the manager at the club, I am thinking what the hell – I am managing so many players,” Petit told Get Football News France.
“The main problem for Chelsea is stability, on the bench but also on the pitch. Every single transfer window, they change players – they buy, they sell – you don’t know sometimes what they are trying to do.
Former French midfielder and 1998 World Champion, Emmanuel Petit poses during a photo session on September 14, 2017“I am very upset that Gallagher has to be sold because of financial rules. To be honest with you, sometimes I don’t get it. I don’t understand their sporting vision. Again, if I am a Chelsea player, even if I sign a contract with them, I don’t have a guarantee I will be with them in six months.
“I think they are lacking experience at the minute. Especially, in the big big positions in the team. They lack experienced players, they bought so many young players, and they have so many players, sometimes I have the feeling they are trying to do what they do in American sports. This is not American sports, this is European football.
“You need consistency with your players. When you buy so many players, it brings confusion to the minds of players. The fact you don’t have big big experienced players to protect the younger players causes troubles. I don’t get it.
“I don’t know why they splash so much money every window and then are forced to sell players due to financial rules. Sometimes I am lost when I read articles about the transfer window because Chelsea are always interested in signing players. They are there all the time. Stability has been the main problem at Chelsea since Abramovich left.”
