Alarm bells at Chelsea as new BlueCo crisis hits: 'It's not normal'

It has been a mixed start to the season for Chelsea, but they are not the only BlueCo club struggling to kick-start their campaign.

Over in France, sister club Strasbourg are in the midst of their worst start to a season since the BlueCo takeover in 2023. The storied French team were supposed to progress with newfound stability this term, but they have regressed.

It's been downhill for Racing ever since Chelsea poached head coach Liam Rosenior in January. Although it didn't work out for him at Stamford Bridge, he is clearly a very good coach, as he is now showing again at Paris FC.

Strasbourg were on course to qualify for Europe under the 42-year-old, but they ultimately missed out following the appointment of Gary O'Neil, who himself jumped ship just a few months later to take charge of Ipswich.

In the summer, Hugo Oliveira was brought in to take Strasbourg back to Europe. The Alsatians are the fourth-biggest spenders in Ligue 1 since the BlueCo takeover, so they ought to be playing in a continental competition.

After 10 games, it is fair to say that this experiment isn't working. Strasbourg are closer to the relegation zone than they are to a European spot, having lost six games and won just three.

On Friday, Chelsea loanee Filip Jorgensen, who had enjoyed a solid season up to that point, was at fault for two goals in a 3-1 loss to Toulouse. At the time of writing, Strasbourg have the second-worst defence in the league with 22 goals conceded.

After the game, defender Lucas Hogsberg thundered: "At halftime, we already said it was unacceptable to concede such a stupid goal just before. But then conceding two more from corners shows that something is definitely wrong. It's not normal!"

L'Equipe noted that Jorgensen "was inevitably overcome by the nervousness that too often plagues his teammates." According to Oliveira, this "nervousness" can be attributed to the team's inexperience.

"We have a very young group, with a lot of ambition and expectations. Everyone is working to transform that energy into positive things. With that, we're going to achieve great things in this league," he insisted after the latest defeat.

It sounds familiar, doesn't it? It's the same problem Chelsea have had in recent years. The Blues have realised that they need more experience if they want to be successful on a consistent basis and have slightly tweaked their transfer strategy.

It is doubtful that Strasbourg, who do not have a single player over the age of 24, will get the same treatment. It is not really in BlueCo's interest that the team is actually successful on the pitch; they just need to develop players that can eventually be sold or make the step up to Chelsea.

Obviously, success makes it easier to sell players, but it's not necessary. If anything, it's better for BlueCo if one team is always worse than the other - and that team should, in their eyes, be Strasbourg - because then there isn't the risk of both qualifying for the same UEFA competition, which would necessitate that one club be placed in a blind trust for a year.

Racing have a clear place in the food chain - they are a feeder club. Their raison d'etre in the BlueCo network is purely to develop players. That is the problem with multi-club ownership, and it is why Strasbourg fans have been protesting against BlueCo since 2023.

With the team now in no-man's-land, these protests will only become fiercer. It is easier to stomach your club's loss of independence when things are going well. It's been a while since things have gone well for Strasbourg.