3 days ago
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Jamie Carragher's critique of Chelsea's squad has not aged well, with the Blues winning the Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League under Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea faced severe criticism last summer for their extravagant spending and constant player turnover. Several first-team players were sidelined as the club splashed over £200million on 10 new signings, swelling their ranks to a staggering 43 at one point.
This approach drew some frustration from Sky Sports pundit and Liverpool legend Carragher, who urged the Blues to halt their recruitment drive, even going so far as to label them "not a proper club".
Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football in August 2024, Carragher said: "Chelsea have just got to stop buying players, and players have got to stop signing for Chelsea.
"If I was a player I don't know why you would sign for Chelsea, the only reason you would sign is because someone might say, 'You're getting a seven-year deal and big money and that's guaranteed money for seven years.'
"You know what I'd say? Back yourself as a player, sign a four-year deal at a proper club and back yourself to do well, and then when you're due for a renewal, your money goes up anyway.
"I don't understand why players are signing seven-year deals. It's not a young or exciting team. Great football teams need competition, but every football team I played in, there was seven or eight players who knew they were playing every week, and then you've got six or seven players who are fighting for the positions.
"Then you've got another six or seven who know they're squad players. That is a healthy squad. If you've got 40 players, how are they all in one dressing room, how are you putting a training session on?"
After securing a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, Chelsea clinched the Conference League title and added the Club World Cup to their trophy cabinet on Sunday, stunning Champions League holders PSG with a 3-0 win in the final.
Post-match, Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly told talkSPORT about his trust in his manager and team and reflected on the club's journey to this point.
"Well, we couldn't have wished for a better outcome for our boys, who have done such good work and trained so hard, really came together in America under Enzo's leadership and his direction," Boehly said.
"No one gave us a chance to beat PSG, and the boys really thrived and grew on that. Watching them come together over the last couple of weeks in America has been very special. I think the form that you've seen is everything we hoped when we were putting this together with [co-sporting directors] Laurence [Stewart] and Paul [Winstanley].
"We always knew that, whatever happens on any given day. The odds that we thought we had and were able to round out with a piece or two... the boys, really understanding what Enzo's been doing. We're big believers, we knew all along in the value of the project.
"So I think, obviously, it came together brilliantly, and those are just odds that you can't predict. But we're hopeful that every day we wake up, the odds are that Chelsea are going to win something big."
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