[The Athletic] Joe Cole: In the Chelsea team I played for, we had a knack of winning a cup even if we fell short in the league. There was an understanding of how to win games of football. When the standards dropped in terms of the league, we were always able to fall back on something like the FA Cup

Summary:

In this exclusive interview, Chelsea legend Joe Cole emphasizes that the FA Cup is the only way to save a season currently marred by “massive unrest” and low confidence. With the club currently 6th in the Premier League and facing fan protests, Cole argues that domestic silverware is vital to restoring the club’s “winning culture” which has faded during a four-year trophy drought in domestic competitions.

Key Takeaways🔈
* The Weight of the FA Cup: Cole argues that the FA Cup holds more cultural and historical value than the Conference League or Club World Cup trophies won last season.
* A “Damning” Drought: It has been eight years since Chelsea last won a domestic cup (2018), a streak Cole finds shocking given the club’s history.
* Hierarchy Criticisms: Cole suggests the current owners have put “business above the football” and are not matching the ambitions of a fanbase used to “shooting for the stars.”
* Managerial Support: Despite the slump, Cole backs Liam Rosenior, urging him to stop worrying about “player values” and focus solely on which players he can trust to win.
* Internal Turmoil: The summary notes the dropping of Enzo Fernandez following controversial comments about his future, adding to the instability at Stamford Bridge.

Key Quotes 📃

On the Club’s Identity
> “You can’t buy history, culture, what it means to people. The FA Cup has it in abundance… it will certainly sit above those [Conference League and Club World Cup] trophies.”
>
> “Under the previous regime… there was mayhem at times, but there was always the same thing in mind: to win trophies… There seems to be a different way of doing it now. I think the business has been put above the football.”
>
On the Current Crisis
> “The FA Cup is massively important for the club. It can help settle things down.”
>
> “If they don’t win the FA Cup and miss out on the Champions League, then the owners have to do a real appraisal of where they are. Chelsea will be four years into their project and at a critical point.”
>
Advice for Liam Rosenior
> “In order for the team to reboot and reevaluate, I’d look at everything around the culture at the club and go back to basics. Don’t be worried about player values. He should think, ‘Which players are with me? Which can I trust to go on the pitch?’”
>
On Cole Palmer
> “Cole at 80 per cent can still win you games so you just have to stick with him. He is the best player at the club and a leader as well.”
>

Note: Summarized with Gemini

https://preview.redd.it/hv9hw38yv5tg1.jpeg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42d1275b98ec9c582698981612dda3faccd14d52

In Cole’s time at Chelsea, we had utter financial dominance. 50% higher net transfer spend than second placed City. Almost certainly by far the highest wage bill over the period, though I can’t find hard data for that.

Today, Arsenal, Liverpool and the Manchester clubs by far outgun us financially, and SCR etc. make it extremely difficult for ownership to compensate for that by just burning their own money.

Yes, those teams were mentally tough, but above all they had much better players because (in relative terms) they spent far more money, in a way that is no longer possible under any ownership – except perhaps a petro-state that may or may not ultimately get away with gaming the system through inflated sponsorship deals and the like and an army of lawyers. 

That’s fine, we can win the fa cup this season and it won’t fix anything because the fanbase is a shambles: we reached the league cup final under Poch which was a big coup in of itself but that didn’t fix anything either because we lost. 

Also I been seeing a lot of people compare us to past Chelsea teams talking about elite managers and all timer players, but the kind of seasons Joe is referring to, they had some terrible managers overseeing them, and yes the players were good but he’s specifically saying “we weren’t good enough for the league that year so we just put it all on silverware” which is also what our squad does. 

I cannot tell you how much I miss lifting the FA Cup such a special trophy