The inquest has begun at Stamford Bridge, with Liam Rosenier’s tumultuous sacking still fresh in everyone’s minds.
The Blues recently achieved a big win against Leeds in the FA Cup semi-final under caretaker manager Callum McFarlane.
But the rottenness of the club’s underlying culture has become painfully clear.
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has proposed that Chelsea bring legendary midfielder Claude Makelele back to the club.
Wayne Rooney gives advice to Chelsea
Rooney candidly revealed on a BBC podcast that a chance encounter left him completely charmed by the Frenchman’s timeless aura.
Makelele, who won two Premier League titles with Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and played in the midfield role that literally bears his name, coached at the club until his departure by mutual consent in September 2023.
“When we played the charity game last year, Claude Makelele was there too.” Rooney explained.
“After the game we sat down and had a glass of wine. I really liked him. At the time I thought it would be great for Chelsea to have a player with his mentality and mindset here.”
That’s an incredibly fair point. There currently appears to be a lack of real leadership in the modern Chelsea dressing room.
Rooney also highlighted the stark differences between the modern-day Stamford Bridge man and the legendary Chelsea team he played against in his heyday.
Back then, the revolving door of managers never really disrupted Chelsea’s winning machine.
“Going back to Chelsea, where Lampard, Terry, Cech and Makelele were in charge, it didn’t really matter that you were sacked because you had the leaders to direct you on the pitch.” Rooney observed.
Blues lack a leader at the club
He pointed to a group of elite players effectively “running the football club”, drawing parallels to his trophy-laden days with Manchester United.
Bruco may want to seriously consider Rooney’s advice as he races to find a permanent successor to Rosseniol, with names such as Andoni Iraola heavily linked.
Tactics and formations are important, but Chelsea are in dire need of a complete culture reset.
Reintegrating a back-to-back champion like Makelele into the backroom staff could be just the stabilizing and no-nonsense presence needed to finally shape this talented but fragile team.
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