Frank Arnesan to leave Chelsea by the end of the season
The Blues will have to deal with the departure of yet another member of their backroom team, Frank Arnesan. The sporting director will be leaving the club he has served in since 2005, at the end of the season upon the expiry of his current contract with
the Blues. His job required his input on the first team activity and strategy and supporting the manager Carlo Ancelotti. He was primarily in control of Chelsea’s scouting for youngsters on a global scale and had an important say in matters concerning the
Chelsea youth academy and reserves.
The former Danish international joined Chelsea from local north London rivals, Tottenham in 2005. He described his time working for Chelsea as “six wonderful years” and hopes to “seek a new challenge” when he will finally part ways with the Blues at the
end of the current football season. The news of the 54-year-old’s exit comes after the troubling news that the former Manager’s assistant, Ray Wilkins has also left the Blues. Wilkins, the former Chelsea player had been associated with the Blues for over thirty
years, first as a player and then as a member of the managerial staff.
The team’s regular defender, Ivanovich was the most recent player to express his surprise to the media over Ray’s dismissal, saying “everyone was a little bit in shock.” Critics of the Blues have argued that perhaps when Ray left, so did Chelsea’s hope
of retaining the title for the second year, and their claim can be backed by results, as the Blues have lost three out of four fixtures since the Englishman’s sacking. Others attribute Chelsea’s slump in form to their lengthy list of injured players, amongst
them captain John Terry and midfield maestro, Frank Lampard.
Frank Arnesan chose to depart from Chelsea with words of thankfulness directed at everyone working/serving the club, including the owner Roman Abramovich. He expressed himself as being given an “incredible opportunity” at Stamford Bridge, and described his
peers at the scouting staff and academy as “greatly talented”. He further admitted to the decision of leaving Chelsea as a difficult one but was heard saying to the media that “but it is entirely my decision.” He explained that his choice to release a statement
before actually leaving the Blues, was so that he could give the “club plenty of time to make the necessary plans for the end of the season.” He said that he would continue to perform his job at the Bridge until “the club decides which way they want to move
forward.”
Arnesan revealed that he has been more involved in assisting Ancelotti in first team matters as sporting director for the past two years. He spoke about the club’s aim concerning the youth academy, revealing how it was the objective to promote one youth
player every year from 2010 in to the first team in order to lessen the reliance the club has on making star signings.
Bruce Buck, the club’s chairman has spoken on Arnesan’s eventual exit, describing the sporting director’s contribution as “exceptional” and added that he has considerably strengthened the youth Academy. He told the media of Frank’s desire to leave the club,
saying; “Frank has spoken to me several times over the past year with regards to seeking new challenges, so his decision comes as no surprise to us.”
Critics may argue that Arnesan was bound to leave as he was brought in to nurture new talent, but so far not one new youth player has been an absolute regular in the Blues’ side. One may argue that Josh McEachran is a product of Frank Arnesan’s training
in the youth squad. However, the young player has been at the club since he was 12 and does not feature in important ‘must-win’ matches. Instead, Ancelotti preferred to delay the surgery of his defender Alex,(who has been facing a knee injury) instead of taking
a gamble on the youngsters.
Fans will undoubtedly want to see more of the ‘fruits of Arnesan’s labour’ as opposed to injured defenders being forced to play. The fixture in the UEFA Champions League game against MSK Zilina saw Ancelotti field a fairly inexperienced side in the ‘dead-rubber’
game with players such as McEachran and Jeffrey Bruma. Fans may argue that Chelsea depends on their rock solid defence, but in such turbulent times, the manager may consider resorting to the home grown talents at his disposal.
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