Frank Leboeuf believes that Chelsea are unlikely to win any major honours this season but argues that Andre Villas-Boas must use the current campaign as a building block for what he describes as a ‘new generation’.
The former Chelsea defender told talkSPORT that the club has come to the end of a cycle and will have to have clear out to make way for the stars of its future.
Leboeuf said:
“Some players are at the end of the cycle and they really need to get rid of some players to buy new players and start a new generation, a new era.
“The [Jose] Mourinho era is over and if Villas-Boas wants to be the ‘Special Two’ he has to build a new generation.”
He added:
“I think the season is already over for Chelsea. They have to go into transition this year. They have won the last two games and they still have some hopes but winning the title is going to be very, very hard and they really have to think about the future – and the future is next year.
“They can win the FA Cup but the goal for Chelsea is either winning the Premier League or the Champions League and I don’t see them winning the Champions League. I support Chelsea like crazy, I hope they can do something, but you have to be realistic and I think this season will be a black season.”
Alex and Nicolas Anelka are set to leave Chelsea in the near future, but Leboeuf reckons the blood-letting has to be more drastic than that and suggested a number of names that should be up for the chop:
“Maybe [Florent] Malouda, [Salomon] Kalou, [Jose] Bosingwa, [John] Obi Mikel [should also move].”
But he says that it would be a mistake to move the likes of John Terry and Frank Lampard on:
“You have to keep the spirit and for me they are the symbols of Chelsea and England and getting rid of John Terry and Frank Lampard would be a big mistake. They belong to Chelsea forever.”
