Latest news with #LaurenceStewart
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chelsea club sources admit 'another goalscorer' would have qualified Blues for Champions League
While we've spent plenty of time sticking the boot into Nicolas Jackson for his red card at the weekend and its potentially fatal effects on our Champions League chances, we've also made it clear that he's not the only one who deserves the blame. The fact that he is our only senior striker is an indictment of the squad planning for this season, and it seems like those at the club acknowledge the failure of their gamble. Chelsea admit mistake in striker squad planning Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart. (Photo by Chris Lee/Chelsea FC Nizaar Kinsella's piece for the BBC today about our search for a striker claims that 'everyone at Chelsea is aware that a lack of quality finishing and therefore goals is stopping the team from taking the next step,' and that 'Chelsea feel having another goalscorer would have been enough to have already qualified Enzo Maresca's side for next season's Champions League.' Advertisement Well, we said all of last summer that this was going to happen. Adding a teenage Marc Guiu to the extremely streaky Jackson who had only just finished his second season as a top level pro was always a huge gamble, and one it felt likely would backfire. How Chelsea ended up in striker mess So why did they put themselves in such a position? According to Kinsella, a deal for Victor Osimhen fell through because of his 'wage demands on deadline day.' Meanwhile other options on the market 'were not considered good enough to add to what… Jackson could offer.' None of that sounds like a very good excuse to us. Osimhen's wage demands could have been scoped out months in advance. They should have known by the time the window opened that he was going to ask too much, let alone by the time it closed.
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Chelsea set to stick with Maresca for next season
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca is expected to lead the team into next season even if they fail to qualify for the Champions club hierarchy, led by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, plan to reserve judgement on the 45-year-old Italian until the summer of is despite ongoing uncertainty over whether Chelsea will secure a top-five finish following their 2-0 defeat at Newcastle on two rounds of the Premier League season remaining, Maresca's team sit fifth, but they are only ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference, with matches at home to Manchester United and away at seventh-placed Nottingham Forest to has been his first season in charge, after joining from Leicester City in June top five will qualify for the Champions League, with the Premier League benefiting from an extra place because of its teams' strong performances in have also reached the Europa Conference League final and will play Real Betis in Wroclaw, Poland, on 28 Maresca and his team fall short in the Premier League, injuries throughout the winter period will be considered a significant data showing their missed chances (the second most in the Premier League) and expected goals (fifth highest in the league) will also influence Chelsea's decision makers. Both metrics illustrate the team are creating a lot of scoring opportunities, even if they are not always finishing therefore, are expected to retain the Italian, barring a huge U-turn or falling-out. Senior figures have admired Maresca's hard work, progression tactically and adaptation to a revised club structure, featuring a new set-piece department and an entirely revamped medical structure and recruitment appointed him on a five-year contract, seeing him as the right man for a long-term spell in charge. Predecessor Mauricio Pochettino was on a two-year deal and left after only one BlueCo ownership has a wider multi-club model which also features French top-flight side Strasbourg. Both teams play a similar style of football with Englishman Liam Rosenior in charge of Strasbourg. Academy teams at both clubs also play in a possession-based, modern has so far slotted in with the modern vision of Chelsea and any future change of boss would be expected to result in a similar type of coach stepping club have expressed some regret in the past about removing Graham Potter before the end of the 2022-23 season, although they remain resolute that neither Thomas Tuchel nor Pochettino proved to be the right fit for Chelsea.
