Former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has questioned the direction of the club and the strategy of the current ownership after the Blues crashed out of the Champions League with an embarrassing 8-2 defeat at the hands of PSG.
Liam Rosenior’s side had high hopes for a comeback after last week’s 5-2 loss in Paris but they found themselves behind after less than six minutes as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia pounced on a mistake from Mamadou Sarr to poke past Rob Sanchez.
And while the tie was already effectively over, Bradley Barcola added a second around 15 minutes in before a Senny Mayulu goal in the second half was the final blow in a 3-0 loss on a chastening night for the hosts.
It means that they fall to an 8-2 aggregate defeat that is the joint-heaviest in their history in Europe, with the Blues also facing a fight to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Speaking on TNT Sports after the match, Cole criticised the club’s hierarchy, and questioned the direction the club are heading in, explaining that the Blues are “a million miles away” from clubs like PSG.
“That is a real leveller of where this club is compared to Paris,” said Cole.
“This is a problem with strategy and the direction of where the club are going. This is a real eye-opener to where we are as a club at the moment.
“There’s a lot of money being spent and we need to really think of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. That’s simply not good enough.
“As a football club, you’ve got to go football club first, not business first. Simple as that, or else you’ll get performances like that,” he added.
Cole was quick to add that the current problems are not the fault of manager Liam Rosenior, explaining that the new Blues boss has “just come through the door”, though the former Strasbourg manager now has a fight on his hands to salvage the season, according to Cole’s fellow TNT pundit Owen Hargreaves.
While the Premier League will likely benefit from a fifth Champions League spot this term, Chelsea currently sit in sixth, one point behind fifth-placed Liverpool with eight games left of the season.
“If they can find a way to win the FA Cup and finish in the top five that would salvage the season,” explained Hargreaves.
“But if you look at those fixtures, [Manchester] City, Man Utd, Liverpool away. They’re really difficult, they’ll do well to finish in the top five,” he added.
Chelsea’s next match comes against Everton in the Premier League on Saturday evening, while they face Port Vale in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on 4 April.
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