NICK FEINBERG: BLUES ARE COOKING UP SOMETHING

HELLO my good football people…trust you’re keeping well! Seeing as the transfer window has gone a bit quiet over the last week, I’m going to get straight into it.

Guys, stop sending me Club World Cup stuff... I know how horrible it must be for all of you having to see Chelsea crowned “champions of the world”, but I’m with you, so stop trying to explain to me the value (or lack of it). It’s a Mickey Mouse trophy, ill-timed and plonked in the middle of a country that simply needed it as a test run for the 2026 World Cup.

I don’t think anyone (Chelsea or not) truly believes the Blues are the world’s best club. Apart from anything, look at the side of the draw the west London club were in. They might as well have played Saxon Rovers (no disrespect) or a Builders Warehouse “B” team to get to the final.

Nah, it’s simply a Fifa showpiece which they’ve changed to every four years in an attempt to give it a bit of clout.

So yeah, don’t worry, not with me anyway. I mean social media-based fans will be smearing it all over the place, but I’ll never claim to support the “world champions”. Okay, are we done now?

Saying all that, the knockout stages were fully competitive and provided some real tests… there are of course a few major positives from the Blues’ perspective.

Off the field, ignorant sponsors will be paying a lot of money to be associated with world beaters.

There is of course the immediate financial gain which gives a huge boost to “balancing the books”. Chelsea won a cumulative total of $125 million (R2.2 billion) for success in the 2025 edition! That’s the sort of money that makes a real difference when competing at the top end.

Then of course, of huge importance, is the growth of the squad, the confidence and the nurturing of a winning mentality.

This is the Premier League’s youngest squad, that had periods of struggles last season, somehow edging a top-four finish and winning a (third tier) European trophy.

To destroy (arguably) the world’s best club in a competitive game/final will give the kids a huge boost.

Paris Saint-Germain appeared helpless as Enzo Maresca’s men bullied, pushed and played stylish football all around them.

I have to say, I was really impressed at how Chelsea bossed that game for the best part of 90 minutes. Yeah, Robert Snnchez pulled off a couple of very decent stops, but there was always just one team in it.

It’s yet to be seen what negative effect this tournament may have on the Premier League season.

On a side-note, and you know I’m a big fan of Nicholas Jackson, but new signing Joao Pedro has definitely brought a spark. You know how that goes, sometimes it takes a signing to jigsaw it all together. I’m loving his quality, pace and goals! “Are the world champions now Premier League title contenders,” was an annoying question posed in the post-match SuperSport studio. No of course not. Can they improve on last season? Absolutely.

Manchester United fans in particular must really struggle watching all this. The Blues have been through football hell and back. First, the UK government shut Roman Abramovich down. Then they were taken over by a whacky American owner who looks like he was just spending for the fun of it with no real plan. But, it does feel like something is definitely cooking.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure, the Old Trafford club has also gone through football hell for over a decade, but there doesn’t appear to be real progress or hope. Sometimes I have to lecture these fans on not whining all the time about s****y owners.

Owners come and go. The best thing “fans” can do is always get behind the club. It has taken a relatively short period for the Chelsea circus to start turning the corner. The truth is the Glazers, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Todd Boehly, Daniel Levy or any of these money men don’t give a flying f**k what fans think, they set themselves strategies and desired outcomes (profits) and stick to it like flies to s**t. So United fans can wave their green and yellow scarves and chant “Glazers Out” till their b***s are blue. Rather use that voice to get behind the players.

I sound really defeatist don’t I? I can’t stand Boehly, I don’t like the “model”, but I am not changing anything.

Come on you Blues!

Chat next week.

Bye, bye.