Don’t listen to me and the millions of other Chelsea fans saying the same thing, listen to one of the best ever holding midfielders to play the game.
Claude Makelele literally had a position named after him, and he is now speaking a lot of sense ahead of Chelsea’s Club World Cup campaign.
Before we get to his full interview, let’s hone in on the most important bit he said in it all.
“I think Milan will never let Mike Maignan go,” said Makelele. “He is one of the best in the world right now, and I think Milan, in fighting for the title next year, won’t want their best goalkeeper gone. But if Chelsea can take him, it’s better, because to win trophies you need a good goalkeeper. Just look at Paris Saint-Germain – Gianluigi Donnarumma helped them a lot to win the Champions League, Ligue 1 and the French Cup. Big teams need big goalkeepers.
“During my time at Chelsea, we had Petr Cech and he saved us a lot. We won titles because of what he did. I think the goalkeepers at Chelsea 1750076642 have made a lot of mistakes, but they are always the first players we say negative things about. And it’s not always the goalkeeper’s fault. Errors can be down to defenders or midfielders. But I think Chelsea need a goalkeeper, striker and maybe a winger to fight for the Champions League and Premier League next season.”
Claude, SAY IT LOUDER so everyone at Chelsea hears you please. It’s the most obvious thing that we need to do since they took charge three years ago. SO DAMN OBVIOUS. There is ZERO excuses if they do not get this done now.
But the rest of his interview is really good as well, I perhaps don’t fully agree with everything he is saying below, but he does make some good points and everything he’s said here is very fair.
“I think it is the ‘Caicedo role’ now,” said Makelele, speaking to GIVEMESPORT ahead of the Club World Cup, where he is a pundit with DAZN. “It gives me happiness if these young players take some things from me. Now this position has started to be recognised in world football.
“I was happy to see Rodri win the Ballon d’Or, because in my time the focus was not on this kind of midfielder. It was always about strikers or wingers and never midfielders. This position is one of the most important in the game, and now we see Rodri, or Pedri at Barcelona, getting acclaim.
“With Caicedo, I love this boy. He’s humble and hard-working. I talked with him before he arrived at Chelsea and he told me I was his example. I’m sure he can be a success at Chelsea because he’s a good player.”
“I think Chelsea are doing very well,” Makelele continued. “They are starting at the beginning [of their project], very slowly. In the beginning, they changed a lot of players and managers. The new manager [Enzo Maresca] made sure Chelsea finished the season in a good way. They qualified for the Champions League and won a trophy.
“I think this new Chelsea can be successful now. We need to wait for Chelsea to win the Premier League again, and they are starting to build a strategy and some stability. But for me, the most important thing is they need to leave Maresca working in a good way, like Paris Saint-Germain did with Luis Enrique. They need stability if they are to fight for a title. And they need momentum, which is why I think winning the Club World Cup will help.
“I am a Chelsea fan, and I was worried when I saw Chelsea struggling in the beginning [under new owners Clearlake-Boehly], but now they are on a positive path and can return to the Chelsea of the past, which was at a high level.
“The future is bright. It takes a lot of young talent to try and make Chelsea successful. I like Nicolas Jackson. We can’t criticise him. He has done a great job and it’s very important to recognise this. But of course, Chelsea need some better players if they are to win the Premier League, and they are also back in the Champions League.
“They needed a second striker [in Liam Delap]. He is compatible with Jackson and adds competition. Jackson can’t do it all alone. I appreciate him. He fought all season. He did a good job, scored a lot of goals and got some assists, but of course another striker is welcome.”
Nicely put.
