Between 2005 and 2013, Manchester United and Chelsea absolutely dominated the Premier League.
These fierce rivals shared the EPL title during this period except for 2012, when Manchester City, freshly backed with funds from billionaire oil magnates, won the trophy. It was even a very close call as they had to rely on an injury-time goal from Sergio Aguero to snatch the title from Manchester United.
What a time it was to be alive for the fans of both these clubs!
Their form so far this season, however, has been nothing short of abysmal. Chelsea are currently in 10th place after 17 games. They also failed to qualify for any European competition this season. As for Manchester United, they have suffered 7 defeats in 17 games and finished dead last in their UEFA Champions League group that contained Fenebarche and FC Copenhagen.
Once upon a time both these clubs had the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, and John Terry on their books. Now look at their current form.
Where exactly did it all go wrong?
It was always going to be difficult for the Red Devils to replace Sir Alex Ferguson after he left in 2013. How do you find a replacement for a man who managed a club for over 26 years and won 31 trophies along the way? It was always going to be challenging to replace the Scotsman but many never expected it to be this challenging.
Manchester United has had many series of ups and downs in the post-Ferguson era. They are yet to fully rediscover the stellar form with which they operated while Fergie was around.
The Red Devils came close to achieving this under Jose Mourinho but along the line, for some reason, it didn’t work out for him.
Under current boss, Erik Ten Hag, the club has now spent over £1 billion on signing players in the post-Ferguson era.
Despite this heavy investment, Manchester United this season broke a very unwanted record of the English side to concede the most goals (15) in a UEFA Champions League group stage. How do you justify this?
As for Chelsea, tensions filled the air when previous owner Roman Abramovich decided to sell the club to Todd Boehly. The fans instinctively knew that major changes were going to occur in the way their club was being managed.
Whether these changes will elevate the club, lead it to a decline, or remain status quo was what they didn’t know. Time has revealed that indeed these changes have led the club to decline. A serious decline at that.
Todd Boehly has not been the owner of Chelsea for up to 2 years and has already spent over £1 billion on signing players with pretty much nothing to show for it. The Blues are currently in 10th position on the EPL table and have very little chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season. The best they can hope for is the Europa League or Conference League. Some months back, Chelsea legend Didier Drogba criticized the way Todd Boehly was running the club.
The striker made the following statement, “It’s no longer the same club. There is a new owner and a new vision. Of course, we try to compare it with what happened during the Abramovich era where a lot of players were brought in, but the decisions were very intelligent.
“Bringing in players like Petr Cech, Andriy Shevchenko, Herman Crespo, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, and I go on. It was done to win titles.
“They are players with a certain experience. The strategy is now different; we bet on young players. But a dressing room of over 30 players is difficult for a manager.”
What exactly will it take to turn these two former prestigious clubs’ fortunes around?
Since it’s obvious that the owners of both Manchester United and Chelsea are not ready to relinquish their ownership of the clubs, they should get a football director with a no-nonsense mentality towards winning trophies and ensuring the right players are recruited.
This is someone who embodies the mentality of both Roman Abramovich and Fiorentino Perez. The person must view success on the pitch as the ultimate validation for results while also ensuring that they are keeping the club on track for long-term growth.
Both Chelsea and Manchester United fans are very passionate about their respective teams. They will not condone these lackluster performances forever. It will indeed be very interesting how the future of both these teams unfolds.
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
