London is Blue Dispatch #008

[Editor’s Note: New season, new newsletter! That’s right, the London is Blue Dispatch has returned for the start of the 2023/24 Premier League season. Every Wednesday, Sam (affectionately known to many as CFCCentral) puts fingers to keys in order to share you a pleasant email on all things Chelsea.

We’re working on the format, but make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss his weekly updates! Without further ado, please enjoy Sam’s first weekly update. – Dan]

Optimism Balloon: Popped.

In Chicago, during Chelsea’s final preseason game vs. Dortmund, on a pitch that looked like it had been prepared by camels using pogo-sticks, Christopher Nkunku jarred his knee – damaging his meniscus and my hopes and dreams. Days later, we’re looking at anything between three to four months before he can even return to training. Mauricio Pochettino had tried this summer’s marquee signing at #9, #10, and on the left flank – assessing the versatile Frenchman’s qualities in positions he has excelled at so far in his senior career. The Central Attacking Midfielder (CAM) slot, a precarious position that in Pochettino’s volatile system functions as both – a catalyst and stabilizing agent, is now a meteorite sized crater according to many.

The names came flying out instantaneously.

Mohammed Kudus, of Ajax, who is already in talks to join Chelsea’s de facto sister club, Brighton. Michael Olise, who albeit incredibly talented, is also injured, with no return date set in stone. The grief proved too much for some, who turned to the dark side for salvation and asked for the return of João Félix. Like a dog chasing after a car it does not intend to drive, we do not realize that the thrill in doing something blinds us from asking ourselves why we’re doing it.

Ask someone where Kudus or Olise play after Nkunku returns, or what happens to Carney Chukwuemeka, Ângelo Gabriel, Noni Madueke, or Kendry Páez (all of whom we spent sizable sums on) a year down the line, and the default responses are pensive brooding or “sell” – conveniently forgetting that our rotting deadwood was slowly going south before it somehow got whisked to the Middle East.

José Mourinho, a while after his second stint at the club had ended, was asked in an interview which centerback the Blues should buy. “Zouma,” quipped José. “You don’t need to buy. You don’t need to spend… He played for Stoke. He played for Everton in the Premier League. He played for France.” A poignant statement borne of wisdom and regret from treating a young Mo Salah so harshly that it left him crying in the dressing room, and forced Kevin De Bruyne to become a legend for the wrong shade of blue.

After watching open training in North Carolina’s searing heat nearly a month ago, a friend asked if something stood out. I belted out a few observations about tactics, then revealed how I thought one player looked off. Grim. Almost pissed. I couldn’t tell if Conor Gallagher just looked that intense all the time, but as he tore through training drills at an intensity far higher than his peers, it was tough not to sense a strange concoction of determination, hostility and betrayal. As if he knew about the Kudus, Cherki, Veiga and Olise rumors; as if he knew that the club were open to offers from West Ham and Tottenham – the London clubs he probably swore to loathe as a lifelong Chelsea fan.

How Deep is Your Love?

Gallagher has had his critics, and for fair reason. The same goes for Chukwuemeka – an enigma with the ball and a shadow without it. But at what point does one think even squad depth is not good enough? Neither of those players have clamored for starts. The patience it has taken, especially for someone like Gallagher, is hard to fathom. It must be far more agonizing to stare your destiny in the eye, only for it to look straight past you.

Gallagher earned the most minutes in preseason, and looked sharper in a deeper position where he has previously been vulnerable. His two flying blocks to deny two efforts on target were easily more exhilarating than the two goals he scored. Chukwuemeka, who looked like he would find no place in a 4-2-3-1, has found a way to channel his box-to-box education into Poch’s 8/10 hybrid role. He is not there yet, but he is significantly better than he was a couple of months ago.

At the end of the day, a 4-month absence is still only thirteen-odd league games. No one is arguing that Gallagher or Chukwuemeka are starting quality, just that they’ve earned a chance to do what they’re here to do. Like George A. Moore once wrote – a man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and then returns home to find it. If spending £50m to fix a temporary absence in the squad feels justified, then the squad’s broken even before it has to be fixed.

[Editor’s Note: We hope you enjoyed the first of Sam’s emails throughout the course of the season! If you have comments, feedback, suggestions, or questions for a future newsletter, shoot us an email: [email protected].

Oh, and since people have been asking, here’s the link to join our public Fantasy Premier League league. Good luck! - Dan]