• March 8, 2022
• Olaoluwa Nwobodo

Roman Abramovich looks set to sell Chelsea after 19 years (18 seasons) as owner and 21 major trophies overall. Social media is awash with several ways in which the Russian oligarch negatively impacted the Premier League, but many of these points are largely false. In this piece, we discuss ways in which Abramovich positively impacted the Premier League. There are so many, but seeing as we cannot cover them all, here are three ways Abramovich left a positive mark on England’s top flight.

Raised the level of competition in the league

Abramovich’s arrival set off a group of events that inevitably saw the competition in the Premier League taken to another level. He came in as Chelsea owner in 2003, and his first season was the 2003/04 league season. That season marked the beginning of the remaking of the brand that is Chelsea FC. Abramovich came in with the sole purpose of making Chelsea a world-beater. The Russian oligarch bought Chelsea after the 11^th season of the Premier League. At the time, Manchester United had walked away with eight out of those 11 Premier League titles.

Only Arsenal and Blackburn had been able to deny Manchester United the title since its inception. It was practically the English Bundesliga. The first obvious way in which Abramovich increased the competition in the league was by adding a third team to the recognized list of contenders. In the second season of Abramovich’s reign, Chelsea was the English champion, becoming only the third team to deny Manchester United the league title since 1992.

Chelsea broke the record of scoring the most points in a 38-game league season (95), as well as most wins in a 38-game league season (29). His devotion, managerial appointments, and player acquisition saw the Blues win the title for the first time in 50 years. To prove to the Premier League community that it was not a fluke, Abramovich’s Chelsea went on to win it again.

A spectacular thing about the second league title was that they equaled the record number of wins they had broken the previous season. This proved that the title contenders up until that point now had another player on the block to worry about, a fact that did not sit well with much of the Premier League community. In the 11 years before Abramovich took over as Chelsea owner, the average points total for a league champion was 83.6 points. In the 18 years since then? The average points total for a league champion is 89.7 points.

There were four champions before 2003 with a total of 80 points or less. Since 2003, there’s been only one champion with 80 points or less. Since Abramovich, teams have had to go out of their way to improve their teams, knowing that if they don’t, there are teams ready to take their place in the league table. These numbers show that there’s no doubt the Russian billionaire impacted the league by raising the level of the competition.

Introduced new ideas through manager appointments

Abramovich’s first managerial appointment was Jose Mourinho. He took the league by storm, as Mourinho took to the league like a duck to water. In fact, a large part of Abramovich’s success as a club owner was due to the exploits done by Mourinho. Mourinho forced many managers to change how they viewed games. Many managers testified to how difficult it was to play against Mourinho’s Chelsea. They were so good defensively that conceding first against them almost always meant defeat.

Mourinho introduced and perfected the 4-3-3 formation, using the lone defensive midfielder (lone DM). Many would remember Claude Makelele’s role in Chelsea’s defensive setup. Makelele was the lone defensive midfielder for Chelsea in the two seasons they won the Premier League for Chelsea. Chelsea’s defense was so good that they hold the record for the fewest goals conceded by a Premier League team in a 38-game league season. That record is 18 years old and it still doesn’t look like Chelsea would be giving it up anytime soon.

Antonio Conte is another manager that perfected a new tactical idea: the 3-4-3 in the league. Premier League teams up until the appointment of Conte only played three centerback formations rarely, if ever. Conte came in and was playing the 4-2-3-1 many of his players were used to, until the humiliating 3-0 first half score-line against Arsenal at the Emirates in the 2016/17 league season. He changed the formation and Chelsea didn’t concede in the second half, losing the game 3-0. This formation change though, saw the Blues go on a record-breaking 13-match winning streak en route to winning the league.

This 3-4-3 forced many managers to change their styles and practice new tactical ideas. It was Mauricio Pochettino that ended Conte’s win streak in a 2-0 Tottenham win at White Hart Lane. Now Chelsea is currently using a three centerback formation, however, but it took Conte to show just how powerful three centerback formations can be. These key managerial appointments brought new tactical ideas and therefore tactical variety to the league.

Set the template for building for success

As mentioned earlier, Abramovich acquired Chelsea with the sole purpose of making them European giants. They couldn’t become European giants without the trophies to show for it, so he made sure that he gave them the best environment to win trophies. He always hired the best managers and gave them what they needed to win the desired trophies. All the success was built on a core that was carefully created in the Russian’s tenure.

The core consisted but was not limited to John Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, Ashley Cole, and Didier Drogba. Terry was already at the club, but Lampard, Cole, Cech, and Drogba were acquired. Players were added and players left, however, these players proved to be the most consistent of them. They were as good as they were consistent. Yes, Abramovich sacked many managers, but that was what was perceived to be in the best interest of the club.

Most importantly, Abramovich raised the standard at Chelsea so high, and managers coming in knew what was required to be considered a successful appointment. The speed with which Abramovich took Chelsea to the summit was remarkable. Delivering a league title in the second season of his tenure. Before Abramovich, Chelsea’s average league position was between 7^th and 8^th. Since he came, Chelsea’s average league position has been 3^rd. Chelsea finished lower than 4^th place 8times in 11 years before Abramovich came. Since he came they’ve finished lower than 4^th place 3 times in 18 seasons. Chelsea holds the record for the most games unbeaten at home (86).

Abramovich set out to make Chelsea successful, and he succeeded. He also made Chelsea able to sustain that success. Player sales and other forms of revenue generation meant that Chelsea became less and less dependent on Abramovich’s own money. As things stand, Chelsea is self-sustaining. Abramovich created a structure that made this success possible, from the backroom staff to the management. He employed key figures at Board level to ensure that Chelsea was not only succeeding on the football side, but also on the business side.