Why Chelsea's golden age is over

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Branislav Ivanovic of Chelsea remonstrates with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois of Chelsea during the UEFA Champions League round of 16, second leg match between Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain at Stamford Bridge on March 9, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Chelsea Football Club is going nowhere fast.
Following Wednesday’s home defeat and subsequent exit from the Champions League, the London club is set to spend its first season out of the Champions League since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over at Stamford Bridge – all of 13 years ago. Also, with Saturday’s emphatic FA Cup defeat, Chelsea’s chances of playing anywhere in Europe took a major blow.

Back in 2003, Abramovic spurred the Chelsea renaissance by spending big and bringing in Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho. Ironically, spending catastrophic amounts and sacking Mourinho ultimately marked the end of what must be considered Chelsea's golden era. Sadly for the club and its fans, Chelsea FC is headed for a blue period.
Missing out on the Champions League is both a kick in the ribs and a punch in the mouth. Top players hesitate to move to clubs that do not feature in the Champions League and the best players currently in the squad begin to look elsewhere for European competition. So Chelsea’s future involves being simultaneously slapped in the face and stabbed in the back.
Even if Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi suddenly became available, would either player want to waste a year of his prime away from Europe’s elite competition? Similarly, the players a step down from those two titans of the game would likely prefer a move to, well, Paris Saint-Germain or even Tottenham Hotspur over a move to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2016.
This is Chelsea’s current reality, and only a quick glimpse around England paints a picture of the Blues' troubling future. Current Barcelona teammates Javier Mascherano and Luis Suarez tell the tales of former Liverpool talents that jumped ship on a prestigious club that did not qualify for Europe’s elite competition with enough regularity. Fernando Torres and Raheem Sterling provided Liverpool more examples of the exodus that ensues when the Champions League is not on offer for top quality players.
As it stands, Chelsea is not assured of returning to a top-four finish, let alone winning the league, in the 2016-17 season. It would be tough to pick the Blues to finish in that elite company.

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Roman Abramovich's Blues won't be playing Champions League football next season. (AFP Photo)

For starters, Chelsea does not even have a manager. Guus Hiddink remains at the club as a caretaker, but he is only a placeholder until the summer. After initial reports that Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone could make the move, Antonio Conte has dominated the rumor mill. The Italian manager may be well credentialed, but he hardly trumps the other talents gracing the Premier League’s sidelines.
Also, Conte would not be able to assume control until after the European Championships, as he is managing Italy for Euro 2016. Conte, though, should provide Chelsea a pipeline into Serie A talent, and Paul Pogba would clearly be a target for the Blues (and just about every other club in Europe).

In truth, Conte’s successor at Juventus, Max Allegri, would have been a far more inspired and astute choice. Allegri won Serie A with AC Milan and also took Juventus to the Champions League final in his first season in Turin. Allegri’s ability to adapt to different systems and also deal with massive squad turnover would have made him a great long-term fit at Stamford Bridge.

For the 2016-17 campaign, Pep Guardiola at Manchester City immediately makes the Citizens the top draw in England when considering the wages, the opportunity to win and the prospect of playing in the Champions League. Even if lame duck manager Manuel Pellegrini manages to drop Man City out of the top four, Guardiola’s arrival almost guarantees that City will not stay out of the Champions League for more than a season. While still not likely, Ronaldo or Messi arriving at the Etihad seems far more probable than either even considering a move to Stamford Bridge at this point in time.
Similarly, Jurgen Klopp’s arrival at Liverpool is not a guarantee of Champions League football, but the German expects to have a war chest at his disposal to draw in top talents. Klopp is already a star in the managerial ranks, as he managed to break Bayern Munich’s stranglehold in the Bundesliga and even took his Borussia Dortmund side to the Champions League final. Liverpool expects to be challenging for the top four immediately and possibly even launching into a title challenge as early as 2016-17 if Klopp can attract the proper caliber of players over the summer. As it stands, Liverpool appears to be in a far more stable position than Chelsea.
Even Manchester United is in a better spot than Chelsea at the moment, as the Red Devils have a young team that is developing rapidly. The talent may not be fully mature, but the emerging quality is undeniable. If Louis van Gaal does not stay at Old Trafford, the rumored replacement is Mourinho. The Portuguese certainly has experience in winning Premier League titles, and the resources of a club like Manchester United could propel United back to the top sooner rather than later.
Both Leicester City and Tottenham appear to be more attractive destinations than Chelsea entering the summer of 2016. Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is widely considered one of the top young managers in the world, and Claudio Ranieri, who may not be as young as Pochettino, will have his Leicester side playing Champions League football. Ranieri possibly will have a shiny Premier League trophy in hand to attract new talents, too.

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Eden Hazard's fall from grace could have him headed out of Stamford Bridge. (Reuters)

With the windfall of new television revenue coming to these clubs, Chelsea’s cash resources suddenly do not hold the same advantage over clubs like Spurs and even Leicester as they did in years past. Chelsea will still attract players, obviously, but Stamford Bridge is far from the most attractive destination in England – or even in London.
Arsenal expects to finish in the top four, regardless of how many teams finish above the Gunners at the end of the season (or next season, or the season after that). Arsene Wenger has spent considerable sums on players like Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in recent years, and the draw of living in London and playing for a top club competing in Europe now excludes Chelsea.
With Champions League off the board, players like Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas, Oscar and Diego Costa would hardly be blamed if they opted to push for summer moves away from Stamford Bridge. Hazard has already been linked with a move to Real Madrid, and Chelsea’s exits out of the Champions League and FA Cup promise to only add further fuel to that fire. Costa's biting and spitting antics expect to push him back to Spain, and Atletico Madrid would likely welcome the Brazilian-born Spaniard with open arms.

Hazard’s shirt swap with Angel Di Maria at halftime of Wednesday’s loss to PSG drew the ire of supporters in the stadium and drew light criticism from his manager after the match. With the Belgian increasingly becoming the focus of supporters’ criticism, Hazard would likely also welcome a return to Ligue 1 and a move to the Parisian capital. Perhaps, that shirt swap only served as foreshadowing for the Belgian jumping ship.

While the reality of missing out on the Champions League should have registered earlier in the season, Wednesday’s Champions League exit and Saturday’s FA Cup defeat clarified Chelsea’s dramatic exit out of Europe with no clear view to a return.

The Blues’ golden era is over, and Abramovich’s Chelsea is taking in water and sinking fast with no relief in sight.