Chelsea players gathered at a nightclub to boost morale.
“Chelsea stars organized a Christmas night to boost team spirit and morale just hours after losing to Everton,” the UK’s Daily Mail reported on December 12. Captain Leicester James gathered Chelsea players together to form a ‘Christmas bond’ just hours after the defeat,” the Mail reported.
Chelsea went through a period of upheaval last May. Todd Boeli took over as the club’s new owner after Roman Abramovich stepped down for political reasons. At the time, Mourinho made headlines when he announced a whopping £1.75 billion ($2.7698 billion) investment in the club.
In fact, it was an overwhelming investment. They spent a huge amount of money in two transfer windows. Chelsea spent over £537 million (approximately $808.2 billion) in that period. In that time, Chelsea has brought in 16 players, including outright purchases and loans. In addition to Enzo Fernandez, they’ve brought in Mikhail Mourinho, Wesley Fofana, Mark Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, and Kalidou Koulibaly.
The signings didn’t stop this summer. While the number of players brought in was down, the spending was astronomical. In addition to Christopher Nkunkwo, they brought in Nicholas Jackson, Roberto Sanchez, Angelou Gabriel, and Diego Moreira. They also spent £115 million on Moises Caicedo.
But for the money spent, Chelsea’s performance has been abysmal. The Blues are 12th in the league this season with five wins, four draws, and seven losses (19 points). It’s a shocking position. The Blues have 18 points between them and first-place Liverpool (37 points), while only 10 points separate them from the relegation zone, 18th-place Luton Town (9 points).
One win in five games, two losses in the last two. Chelsea failed to pick up a point at Manchester United in a 1-2 defeat on October 7, and then went down 0-2 at Everton three days later.
Against this backdrop, captain James brought the squad together in one place. “The Chelsea squad headed straight to Bagatelle restaurant in Mayfair after returning to London from their trip to Everton, before heading to Tape nightclub,” explained the Daily Mail.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino saw it as a positive. “Pochettino is said to have allowed the event to go ahead,” said The Sun. Pochettino is understood to recognize the need to develop personal relationships off the pitch. He believes the nightclub visit was positive.”