I hope that we can now put to rest the argument that spending huge amounts of money on players guarantees success.
Man City are now finding out to their cost that you can spend as many hundreds of millions as you like on new players but it doesn´t necessarily mean that you´ll win anything.
If the Man City owners thought that they could simply emulate the success that Chelsea have had in recent years by spending big money then they thought wrong.
What many people fail to understand is that the success of Chelsea´s title winning years was built on previous years when we were already winning domestic and European Cups.
The media love to maintain this false idea that before Abramovich and his money Chelsea were a nothing club who hadn´t won anything for decades but nothing could be further from the truth.
Chelsea were a successful club before Abramovich bought the club. In the seven years before Abramovich came along Chelsea won 2 FA Cups, European Cup Winners Cup, League Cup, Super Cup as well as qualifying for the Champions League twice (at a time when only the top 3 got Champions League football).
We had many great results in that era including beating Man Utd 5-0 in the Premiership in 1999 and beating Barca 3-1 in 2000, although most people don´t know that because the media sweep those results under the carpet as it doesn´t fit their little story of Chelsea supposedly being rubbish before Abramovich.
The foundations of success were already in place at Chelsea when Abramovich came along. The Abramovich money was the added investment (albeit a very big investment) that allowed us to progress from a team who won Cups and always finished in the top six and occasionally in the top three to a club that won titles.
City on the other hand were playing in the lower divisions a few years ago so for them to suddenly make the jump from that to title winners in the space of a few years is a massive leap no matter how many hundreds of millions you spend.
So far City only have 1 FA Cup to show for their half a billion investment on players.
I think that a lesson has been learned for all clubs here. A very expensive lesson.
Spending big money guarantees nothing
posted on 9/4/12
>>Finishing 4th in your league should never be considered a success and if it is then something is drastically wrong.
you're probably right. I didn't say I liked it, just that it is.
posted on 9/4/12
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posted on 9/4/12
>>Maybe Champions League football should only be offered to teams that finish 1st or 2nd in their repsective leagues.
that would destroy any hope of competition unless you moved all the TV and prize money to the Europa League.
posted on 9/4/12
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posted on 9/4/12
So Superb you would rather win the FA Cup then get 4th this season?
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Yes I would and the following is a comment I made 2 days ago on another article entitled "4th place or FA Cup":
" I´d much rather win the FA Cup and finish fifth or sixth than finish top four and win nothing ".
Hope that cleared up it up for you
posted on 9/4/12
I miss the CL
posted on 9/4/12
Making a CL final and finishing second most definitely keeps you on the radar and acceptable to your stars.
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I´m not denying it keeps you on the radar but I just don´t see how it can be considered sucessful for Chelsea to finish 2nd and lose a Final.
Adequate maybe. Successful definitely not.
posted on 9/4/12
The CL produces some of the best nights for each team of the season. So why is qualifying to get the experience of it not a success?
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I don´t think that at any point I´ve denied that there is an element of success (albeit more financial success) in qualifying for Champions League football as we know the financial benefits of Champions League football.
My point is that in any one season I´d prefer to actually win things than just finish top four.
Nobody remembers who finished 4th.
posted on 9/4/12
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posted on 9/4/12
Chelsea were relatively successful prior to Roman Abramovich arriving, but the spending around that time to keep up with Arsenal and Man Utd lead to financial problems.
Man City will almost certainly finish 2nd with maybe 85 pts. Chelsea have finished 2nd most seasons since Abramovich arriving. They went out early in the FA Cup to Man Utd, but so have Chelsea at times and reached the semis of the Carling Cup. They should have got through in their CL group, but they were not seeded and it might have been a tough group for Chelsea in their pomp.