There’s been a lot of talk about leadership within this Chelsea team at the moment, and it’s an issue that’s been simmering at Chelsea now for at least a few seasons.
The main problem is that the club has gone from leaders as the backbone of the team, such as Petr Cech, Ashley Cole, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, to a much weaker team overall with a major lack of leaders.
Going from Frank Lampard and John Terry to Jorginho and Cesar Azpilicueta as their vice-captain and captain, is a very noticeable downgrade that has really taken its toll.
It’s time to pass the captaincy torch this summer, but where does it go? Reece James and Mason Mount have been the two most prominent calls. But some fans worry that James is too quiet on the pitch, and with Mount, we don’t even know if he will sign a contract extension and stay at the club beyond 20204.
Kalidou Koulibaly arrived this summer with leadership and experience, captaining Napoli. But even he has been hiding out in the latter part of league games as Chelsea continue to struggle. This has become the norm for our so-called ‘leaders’ on this team.
When the chips are down, they hide. And what Chelsea desperately needs now is for the leaders to stand up and be heard. The only real leader we have right now, in my opinion, is Thiago Silva, but his contract is up and he won’t be playing forever at 30.
There are others on this team who could become good leaders, but may not yet be. Chelsea could even now look to sign one or two profiles that can bring leadership with them, because we are certainly lacking at the moment and need to get it back.