Chelsea will make the top five this season but need old heads to push on

After a £1billion-plus spend by Todd Boehly, there will be disappointment among the Chelsea hierarchy that Champions League qualification is still touch and go.

Why has it been such a struggle in the second half of the season? I think the crux of the problem is a lack of experienced players to control games in the closing stages and also deal with disappointment when things don’t go well.

It’s particularly true in defence. Most great Premier League teams have a proper leader like John Terry, Tony Adams, Nemanja Vidic, Vincent Kompany or Virgil van Dijk.

Where is the Chelsea equivalent to organise team-mates and dish out verbal volleys at the right time? There isn’t one and their failure to replace Thiago Silva to aid the youngest team in the league has been a mistake.

I watched them dominate possession against Crystal Palace in January but still concede a late equaliser. And that was just a week after they led Fulham with 10 minutes left — and ended up losing. That’s a basic lack of game management.

When I was at Liverpool, outsiders questioned the signing of 35-year-old Gary McAllister from Coventry, but it was a masterstroke because he had the knowhow to help the rest of us come through pressured situations, and he still had the fitness and quality to justify his place in the team.

Chelsea have introduced a totally different business model which has never been attempted before. They have purposefully collected players with potential, and thrown them together on long-term contracts in the hope that they gel.

That also relies on sharp judgement from the recruitment department. In Chelsea’s case, it hasn’t helped that only Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo have justified the hefty price tags, with the jury out on everyone else.

It’s left a nervousness around Stamford Bridge with the team currently fifth on goal difference. They can’t keep missing out on the Champions League. It affects revenues, which in turn impacts on PSR and players with ambition like Palmer will want to operate at the highest level.

This Champions League race will go down to the wire. My feeling is Chelsea will just squeeze in, the beneficiaries of fifth place being good enough this season and a slump in form from Nottingham Forest, whom they meet on the final day at the City Ground.

Even the scheduling of Sunday's game with Liverpool could work out for Chelsea. If there is ever a good time to play Arne Slot’s team, it is a week after they’ve won the title and been celebrating.

It’s still a little underwhelming considering Chelsea’s history of winning the biggest prizes. To compound having an untested team, Chelsea are led by a manager, Enzo Maresca, who hasn’t worked at this level before. There is no experience within the group to fall back on.

Although Chelsea need a new goalkeeper — Liverpool have two reliable ones in Alisson and Caoimhin Kelleher and the Blues don’t have any — I don’t think Maresca’s approach has helped Robert Sanchez.

I don’t get the sense the manager gives his players much freedom to make their own choices on the pitch. Whereas Pep Guardiola would prefer Ederson to play out from the back, he also allows him the freedom to go longer if the match situation dictates; Sanchez doesn’t receive that same backing from his manager.

It’s why Chelsea fans get frustrated too — the refusal to change tactics even if the opposition has worked you out.

I don’t think Chelsea fans are being unreasonable when they become frustrated watching their team repeatedly fall into the same trap.

Some of the younger Chelsea players will improve next season as they learn but I still don’t think the team can take a major step forward unless they show flexibility in their transfer model and bring in some experience to help the younger players.

Kevin De Bruyne and Jamie Vardy are two obvious free agents but the top priorities are in goal and at centre half.

Will Boehly accept a partial U-turn of his transfer strategy? I’m not sure. But he should.