Roman Abramovich Losing Control at Chelsea?

The man that is responsible for taking Chelsea from an average team on the Champions League outer to a perennial trophy threat and one of the best clubs in football.

His previously unmatched and unseen spending power (matched and surpassed now by City) helped Chelsea to come within a few penalties of achieving every major trophy available to them over his short spell as the West Londoners owner.

However the coaching carousel that has become a feature of Chelsea has increased scrutiny on the controversial owner and the obvious influence of the locker room to override coaching and board room decisions has the club in a mini crisis. They are moving further and further away from Manchester United in terms of trophy credentials and have now been seemingly overtaken by the new kids on the block in the title of England’s second best, Manchester City.

Their reckless spending has seen them bring in major flops for ridiculous prices but it has not altered Abramovich’s mentality when considering transfers. Tottenham’s refusal to give in to their spending power may have signalled something more interesting than first thought.

Chelsea’s once unquestionable influence over both English and world football is decreasing.

The most recent example is Abramovich’s offer to buy their spiritual home, Stamford Bridge, in an attempt to construct a new, much larger stadium. He has offered a payout and a promise to relocate no further than 3 miles from the Bridge should they find a home before 2020.

It is strongly believed the Chelsea Pitch Owner’s Association will veto the offer from Abramovich, meaning the Russian will face a tough task in his plans to follow Arsenal’s highly successful transfer into their new era.

Whilst on the outside these can be viewed as simple disagreements based on a number of valid reasons, to me it is all pointing to the greater idea that Abramovich is losing his strange hold on the West London club and that Chelsea as a whole are beginning to slip form their position of dominance within club football.

The ageing, egotistical squad is beginning to show it’s frailties and Chelsea face a tough task in overhauling the team to ensure it’s long term success. It is a poorly kept secret that Abramovich does not have the money he once had and despite blowing a ridiculous and since unwarranted 50 million pounds on Fernando Torres, the Chelsea owner may prove to be much tighter on the purse strings in the future.

Unlike Manchester United, Chelsea have failed to integrate youth into their experienced system, which will greatly delay the new era of Chelsea football. Manchester United perfectly introduced players such as Chris Smalling, Fabio, Rafael, Nani, and Anderson over the past few years giving them consistent roles with the first team around the ever-present experience seen through Ryans Giggs, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra. Combine that with United’s timely loan opportunities to Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverly, combined with new signings Phil Jones and Ashley Young has United perfectly ready to continue their reign at the top of English Football.

Chelsea have an entirely different mantra, rather pursuing established talent, regardless of age and price tag, to continue their current dominance rather than preserve their future.

Whilst in no way, shape or form am I saying Chelsea will fall out of the top 4 this season, nor any time in the coming few seasons, the long term ramifications of Chelsea’s irresponsible transfer dealings, managerial farces and failure to take control of their playing group may condemn the club back to their previous days of obscurity.

Whilst Abramovich’s ambition and money may have been enough to stop that from happening thus far, that may not be enough to ensure his success and influence is sustained in the future. He will not go down without a fight, but if he begins to lose faith from the players and fans, the situation is likely to snowball and it may get to a point where Chelsea is in a place it has not been for some time.

Out of Roman Abramovich’s hands.