“One of the worst in the Premier League” – Chelsea’s new owners changed something significant most fans won’t notice | OneFootball

The i have today published a really fascinating long read about the Clearlake-Boehly takeover of Chelsea and how it’s looking now.

A curious new anecdote we hadn’t heard before was to do with something very prosaic – the pitch at Stamford Bridge which they had inherited.

As part of the overhaul that saw new managers, players, commercial directors, medical staff, coaches and academy staff, those at the top decided that the playing surface at Chelsea’s home wasn’t up to it.

“It was felt that the Stamford Bridge pitch was one of the worst in the Premier League, so Stewart sourced a world-leading groundsman to sort it out, bringing in Paul Burgess from AS Monaco, who possesses unparalleled expertise in pitches and had worked at Arsenal for 12 years and Real Madrid for 11.”

We can’t say we had noticed that ourselves – the pitch always looked good to us, and certainly no worse than the pitches you see at the other top stadia.

A groundsman works on the pitch at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Chelsea change everything at once – tearing off the plaster with no shortage of pain

That example was used to illustrate the bigger picture of how Chelsea’s new ownership were drilling down and changing everything at every level.

It’s been a bumpy ride so far, but there is a tempting logic to the idea that the bumps were all going to come at some point, and it was better to get them all out of the way early. In that way, the more difficult the path to start with, the easier it becomes later.

It’s too soon to say with this season, but the fact that the team are doing far better than predicted back in the summer would indicate that there is some truth to that idea.