Chelsea have been urged not to pursue European football next season unless they can qualify for the Champions League with Graham Potter's side still a long way off the top four. The Blues sit tenth ahead of their game on Saturday against Aston Villa but aren't out of the running for Europa League or Europa Conference League places.
However, given the scheduling that those competitions pile onto clubs competing in them, Paul Merson doesn't see a reason that the 2021 Champions League winners will want to play in either second rate tournament. Despite having won the Europa League in both seasons that they have dropped into it, Chelsea are looking for bigger achievements in the coming years.
“I think it’s going to get to a stage where they can’t want to get in the Europa Conference [League], surely,” Merson told Sky Sports ahead of the clash with Villa. The former Arsenal man has already seen the Premier League leaders dumped out of the tournament early.
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Trying to balance a title charge and European progression, Mikel Arteta's men were knocked out by Sporting CP on penalties last month. Their failure to overcome the Thursday-Sunday schedule is evidence of the challenges posed by the competition and Merson doesn't think either offers the same esteem as Europe's premier club competition.
He added: "Why would you want to get in that on Thursday nights? Chelsea have got a squad together to go and try to win the Premier League, not play on Thursday nights in Magaluf.”
The Blues could still win Champions League this season and qualify for it next season. At this stage that looks the most likely route into the competition, sitting 11 points off Tottenham in fourth. Newcastle could make that gap 12 points. With ten games left and a tough run of games remaining, it would be quite the task for Chelsea to get close especially with Liverpool, Brighton, Brentford and Fulham also in the mix for European places.
Chelsea's last league title win came when they weren't in Europe, in 2017 under Antonio Conte. Since then they have played in the Champions League for five seasons and the Europa League once, winning one of each in that time. The mounting games with four different trophies to compete for would offer a new challenge for Potter though and its one that Jurgen Klopp has been warning elite clubs of.
“We are part of four competitions, and thankfully we are good enough this year not to go out early, but the fixture list we have now, let’s get through it,” Klopp said last season as his side went on to play over 60 games.
“The schedule, and how people use the fame in the moment – Liverpool is hot and everyone wants to see them – they couldn’t care less, the TV stations. It’s just not OK.
“If we play a Champions League semi-final, find me another league in the world and another broadcaster who would put the one team in the semi-finals – it might be two or three English teams – on at 12.30. It’s like: ‘Throw them a little stick between the legs!’ What? What are you doing? Why would you do that? That’s why it’s so difficult, that’s why it never happens, because nobody cares.
“It’s unbelievably difficult. We are still in three competitions and we play City; you saw how difficult that was. How could I sit here now and think about other cups? We play Benfica tomorrow and how can I sit here thinking about winning the Champions League? I don’t. We just try to squeeze everything out to stay as long in the competition as somehow possible and then be there in the final, hopefully, or in the league to make the last decisive step.”
Chelsea also had to balance four competitions on the go but have fallen well short this season. The fixture congestion is not something Potter has dealt with on this level before and would bring a unique task should they be in Europe but outside the top four at the end of this season.
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