Jason Cundy has suggested Chelsea would benefit from signing a player like Harry Maguire, as the current squad lacks leadership and experience.
The Blues were dominated by Manchester City on Sunday as they suffered a 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge, consigning them to five defeats in their last six games across all competitions.
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The lack of points collected under rookie boss Liam Rosenior has hurt his side’s chances of securing a Champions League position for next year.
Additionally, the west London side were humiliated out of the continental competition at the last 16 stage, losing 8-2 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain.
Chelsea remain sixth despite the loss over the weekend, but are four points behind fifth-placed Liverpool, with clubs like Brentford and Everton just a point behind the Blues.
The ‘Slabhead’ solution?
Maguire put pen to paper last week on a United contract that keeps him at the club for a further year, as his previous deal was set to expire in the summer.
Since Michael Carrick’s appointment as interim manager, Maguire has become a mainstay in the side and was rewarded with an England recall during the March international break.
Ex-Chelsea defender Cundy praised the deal and said: “Manchester United just re-signed Harry Maguire, and think about what he brings to the team…
“He knows he is not going to start every game but there’s a reason they kept him. It’s not because he’s the best defender in the world but because of what he brings in terms of experience, personality and leadership.
“Maguire has had a brilliant couple of weeks recently, he’s got himself in the England squad, there’s a chance he goes to the World Cup. You go back three months ago, there would have been no chance.
“There are moments in games where I look for experience, there’s Moises Caicedo and Marc Cucurella but in the second half of the game they did not look like the players I know they are and the game ends up getting ripped away from us.
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“At times it’s not just on the pitch but also in the dressing room, there’s no figurehead.”
Cundy added: “Bring in a Petr Cech, John Terry, or Didier Drogba into the squad then we are a serious team. I don’t think currently we are a million miles away; there’s quality there but some of the players have not stepped up. But we need a leader throughout the spine of the team.”
Matisse Armani backed up Cundy’s point, saying: “If we are going to change the policy of the club we need to bring in those characters into the football club to help run it, where is the sporting director to admit where they have gone wrong? And instead how they are going to change the direction of the club to get the best in class?
“Instead, they’re being stubborn and there’s a continuation of bringing out quotes and briefings that we are going to stick by Liam Rosenior. Everything is remaining the same.
“They are not putting people in place in the hierarchy to challenge them, to tell them ‘this is not how you run a football club’. You can’t spend that much money on this squad and not know where the balance is, they are not seeking expertise from outside.”
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The baby Blues
Chelsea are the youngest team on average in the league – by some margin.
The average age of all the Blues’ starting line-ups has been under 25, with the youngest age being 23.4. Their oldest signing last summer was Joao Pedro at 24 years old.
Cundy reiterated his desperation for Chelsea to sign more senior heads, as he added: “I would like to think there will be a reset in the summer, we have been crying out for experience.
“Over the course of a very short period of time we saw Mateo Kovacic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho and Thiago Silva all go. Think about the pure experience those players gave the team, we don’t have that anymore.
“All of them left basically within 12 months of each other and those gaps have not been filled, we are just so naïve and gullible. If you want to sum Chelsea up at the minute, the game against Man City does it for you.
“We can compete, we’re very good, we create chances, we might go 1-0 up then in the second half we’re finished, that 90 minutes shows us where we are right now.”
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