Joe Cole said Chelsea must end the player power culture at the club if Thomas Tuchel is to have long-term success at Stamford Bridge.
There have been a lot of reports about the bad atmosphere in the dressing room prior to Frank Lampard’s dismissal.
The Telegraph claims several senior players were quite unhappy with Lampard’s “favouritism” towards the academy graduates with some of them becoming regular starters under him.
Azpilicueta has since come out and insisted that the players did not play any role in Lampard sacking (The Telegraph).
However, Cole who is familiar with how Chelsea work behind the scene said the player power culture has always been there at the club.
“It is a difficult one for me to comment on as I know everybody involved. I know Frank [Lampard], Jody [Morris], Petr Cech, the owner and the board members,” he told All To Play For podcast.
“The people who made the decision will argue it isn’t a problem because they’ve won everything over the last 20 years.
“But I feel there has always been a problem at Chelsea that players have too much of an opinion on what’s going on.
“They have a direct line to people upstairs — this has happened for a long, long time.”
Cole explained that in the seven years he was at Chelsea, he had never spoken to any member of the board or a director regardless of whether he was playing regularly or not.
But he believes it was not the case recently at Chelsea under Frank Lampard.
“In my opinion, this has to change if there is ever going to be a continuity,” he added.
“If Thomas Tuchel is to be a success that has to stop.
“In six months, there will be 11 players out of the team and not in form — but that’s football.
“They cannot go through their agents or anyone else and start bringing discontent to the club.”
Chronicle view
Cole had a point. It is inevitable that some players will eventually have to sit on the bench week in week out.
Tuchel is likely going to have his first-choice in each position while the rest will have to be part of rotations or back-ups.
Having managed high-profile names at Paris Saint-Germain, Tuchel hopefully has the man-management skills to avoid any clashes in the dressing room.
Although, keeping everyone happy would still be close to impossible.
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