If there was one thing that Chelsea has been notorious for in the past, it's their dressing room leadership. The spine of Petr Cech, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba was a backroom force to be reckoned with. You could feel their presence and leadership on the pitch. I can only imagine what it was like behind closed doors.
They were bought into the club knowing the expected standards, and they never let that go. Together they had won everything, including that hard fought for Champions League trophy. The new generation of footballers look up to these players as idols, and so does the Chelsea fanbase. With their tough standard of work rate, I can only imagine how they would fair up against today's footballers.
I think they'd do just fine if they were to play teams such as this current Manchester City squad in their prime. However, I wonder how harsh the reality would be on some of the current Chelsea players. The Blues currently lack that formidable spine, but they have just the player to help rebuild it.
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Speaking to Stadium Astro, John Terry opened up about the rumours regarding player power in the dressing room. There's the notion that the famous core of Drogba, Lampard, Cole, and Cech was the reason for several managerial dismissals. Growing up, I remember reading stories of them grouping to get managers fired or players sold. It sounded like a horror movie the way it seemed back then, but now the narrative has been put to bed. The former Chelsea captain said,
"No, definitely completely untrue in terms of the players being in charge and making decisions. "The reasons that we had such success in Chelsea at my time, we always had one man in charge, and that was the manager. We had such a strong group of players to help that process."
There's nothing like a bit of tough love for your fellow teammates. Sometimes it is needed to get the absolute best out of an underperforming player. I look at the Chelsea team today and can recognize many players who I know have not reached their full potential. Their ceiling is so high, but they are unable to overcome the barrier for some reason. I look at players such as Timo Werner who struggle with confidence, and it's translating to their on-pitch performances.
I can only wonder if the captain Cesar Azpilicueta has taken the same stance as John Terry.
"If someone wasn't to the level or the standards we demanded, as Chelsea Football Club, then me, Ash, Frank, Didier, Pete would tell them." John Terry told Stadium Astro.
"If people didn't continue to be at those standards before the manager even had to say anything, we would nip it in the bud, and that's what we big characters in the group would do.
"Even a couple of times, we would go in the dressing room, and there would be screaming arguments, we'd be battering each other.
The manager would come in and go, 'you've done my job for me', and he could concentrate on the tactical side."
Taking a look at Chelsea's current dressing room, who would you say is Thomas Tuchel's spine of harsh reality. The players capable of working in the dressing room and telling their teammates the truth about their performances result in screaming arguments.
Right now, those players feel scarce. Antonio Rudiger comes to mine as his personality is shown frantically on the pitch. He demands a lot from those around him, and he is quite an unfiltered character. It's a shame that he could be leaving at the end of the season. He knows exactly the standard that Chelsea demands from their players. He is the epitome of a robust, confident personality that you would want to have by your side.
Chelsea should do well to keep him once they can renegotiate terms. He could lead the new spine to be developed within the Chelsea camp.
