Avram Grant: Chelsea do not have a tactical identity like Arsenal

Vaishali Bhardwaj28 January 2017

Former Chelsea manager Avram Grant believes the Blues lack a clear identity on the pitch because of the number of managers they have had since he departed the club.

Grant, now 61, coached Chelsea for one season following the departure of Jose Mourinho in 2007, and led the Blues to the Champions League final in Moscow where they lost to Manchester United on penalties.

He left the Blues shortly afterward, with Chelsea going on to have a number of different managers - Antonio Conte being the latest of those coaches.

Grant, who has led Ghana to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, believes the revolving-door policy for managers at Chelsea is one reason why he thinks the club have been unable to develop a clear playing style like their rivals Arsenal.

AFP/Getty Images

Speaking in an interview with ESPN FC, Grant said: "When I brought Henk Ten Cate to Chelsea, why did I bring him?

"He was at Barcelona and Ajax. I said: 'You run the training'.

"The method was no more long balls to [Didier] Drogba - finished, whether you want it or not.

"I think the problem is that Chelsea don’t have an identity of how they play. Arsenal have, Pep Guardiola has - they don’t. They want to buy players and win titles but they cannot have an identity because they change coach every year or two years.

Chelsea's winning run in the Premier League under Antonio Conte

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"On the other hand they have the director of football (Michael Emenalo) doing a good job, buying good young players, so the squad is fantastic - the most balanced in England.

"If you see Manchester City they have very good players but the defence, with all respect, is not at the level. Liverpool are the same. I think we need to give credit to the director of football there, he’s doing a good job.

"The one thing that is stable there is the owner (Roman Abramovich), (director) Marina (Granovskaia) and the director of football. I think it’s good for the club.

"If they changed Marina and Michael every year they couldn’t do well."

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