Dear Mr. Antonio Conte,
I’m an ardent Chelsea fan and there are millions of us. I have followed you and your teams over the last decade. I have no doubt that you are a master tactician. I’m very excited to see what is in store for us this coming season just as much as you are. I write this open letter to tell you a few things that we fans want to communicate based on our limited knowledge and football managerial experience.
Transfer season and Pre-season matches are the first way through which we got to know the plans you have for Chelsea. I’m happy that we have acquired the services of N’Golo Kante and Michy Batshuayi. Kante was a brilliant and a much needed move as midfield is one of the areas where we needed to reinforce considering we have an out-of-form Matic and an over defensive Mikel. We have seen in the past what Ramires and his stamina brought to the game, especially when he was on a roll and Kante is an improved version of him. I’m eager to see Kante play in Chelsea’s colours.
These days, I see lots of newspapers linking Chelsea to the likes of forwards like Romelu Lukaku. Lukaku is a good forward. But the kind of money involved in the deal, like splashing above 60 million Euros is not very appealing to fans like me. Having already acquired the services of his compatriot Batshuayi, I feel there are more pressing needs on the pitch for Chelsea and I’m sure other fans will agree with me. Please, please come out and say you aren’t interested in buying another expensive forward.
Diego Costa was definitely one of the few positive transfers that has happened, as far as the forwards in Chelsea are concerned. You might not know what we, as fans have gone through thus far in the Abramovich era. I would like to apprise you a little bit of history. We have seen lots of expensive strikers turning into flop deals. The list including Chris Sutton, Hernan Crespo, Andriy Shevchenko, Fernando Torres etc. We have also experienced failures with short term deals for players like Samuel Eto, Alexandre Pato and Radamel Falcao. These are world class names, but they couldn’t do justice to us.
We have seen how difficult it is to make expensive strikers click at Chelsea. We have had limited successes in Didier Drogba and Diego Costa. Please don’t sell Costa in spite of his attitude issues. We all know what Suarez can do on his day, and Costa is a similar player but with different attributes. Please assure us that we aren’t selling him.
Having seen Chelsea as a very good defensive side over the last decade, it was really depressing to see the kind of performances put in by Ivanovic and co last season. Every time Chelsea gets a lead, the fan inside me will be avoid celebrating, as I’ll be afraid that a goal against us is just around the corner. I want this feeling to recede. I want at least two world class defenders to complement Azpi in our team. John Terry is our Captain and Legend and I’m sure he’ll be the guiding light for Zouma, Chalobah and other youngsters meanwhile playing a few games himself. But I badly want to see a rumour linking us with the likes of Varane, Thiago Silva etc. Irrespective of whether we end up buying them or not, an intent is what we fans want to see and get excited.
The other thing I wanted to touch upon is youth integration with Chelsea squad. We have been disappointed by a few former managers. Please show to the world that Chelsea can produce lot more Terrys and make it happen sooner rather than later. I have full faith in you that you are the man to do this.
All the very best and Cheers! Let us Keep The Blue Flag Flying High.
Regards,
A True Chelsea Fan
