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By GRAEME SOUNESS Published: 13: 00 AEDT, 7 December 2024 | Updated: 13: 00 AEDT, 7 December 2024 4 View comments They must be jumping up and down with delight in the Chelsea boardroom at the moment as they find their side second in the Premier League table. Disregard all the chat coming out of the club that they don’t see themselves as potential champions. Privately they will be thinking, ‘If Liverpool slip up, then we have a great chance’. It would be wrong of them to think otherwise. I have been critical of Chelsea because of their scattergun approach to recruitment and the fact several of the players they have bought will not be good enough in the long run to challenge for the two big trophies that really matter: the Premier League and the Champions League. It was a brave, and perhaps reckless, approach — especially when you consider the £1. 2billion they have spent and the length of the contracts they have handed out. Take into account too that those players who are not good enough for them will prove to be very expensive when they want paying up to leave. I have to say, however, that Enzo Maresca has done a marvellous job in gelling this young squad of players. Doubters, including me, thought this season would be one for working out what he has and what he doesn’t have and subsequently trimming the squad accordingly. But I’ve been really impressed by them. The signs were there against Liverpool in October. They went to Anfield and played without fear. They were bold. Chelsea, who can call upon stars such as Cole Palmer, are capable of winning the title  Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has done a marvellous job in gelling his young squad of players Anfield is proving the hardest place to go to this season but that didn’t trouble them. They played with courage and, for such a young team, had zero inferiority complex against a very good Liverpool side in what is always a hostile environment. And for all the outstanding young players Chelsea have, the standout one, Cole Palmer, is progressing into arguably the most valuable player in the Premier League. The irony must not be lost on Manchester City as, while they have started to go backwards, Palmer, a player they agreed to sell for £40million, is looking like the heir apparent to Kevin De Bruyne as the Premier League’s mischief-maker-in-chief and creator. It must be all the more painful to watch for City as he continues to score and create goal after goal, week after week. For his part, Maresca is saying all the right things by playing down Chelsea’s chances but deep down he knows this is a real opportunity for them. There’s no doubt Chelsea are an improving team coming up on the rails. But to win a Premier League title you need to endure a long, hard nine months where you have to be talented, lucky and mentally tough — and none of these players have been on that journey, not yet. That’s the obvious handicap for Maresca. The Italian has stuck to his beliefs. He has walked into a football club that didn’t seem to have a clear strategy or winning formula — he was the fourth manager under the owners since 2022 — and has forged a competitive team out of the disarray. Much was made of Chelsea’s positive finish to last season under Mauricio Pochettino but you can’t read too much into results in the last six or seven games of a campaign when some teams may already have one eye on the beach. Maresca has made a difference. He is deflecting the pressure off his young squad and that is the correct thing to do. The challenge going forward is to remain consistent and hope Liverpool falter. They face their bitter rivals Tottenham on Sunday full of confidence. Given the inconsistent form of Ange Postecoglou’s team, on paper the fixture is a very winnable game for Chelsea but as always in this League you must prepare to play the best version of whoever you are up against. You would expect ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Spurs to be smarting after their defeat by Bournemouth on Thursday and they will know they have to be a different version of themselves to have a chance against this high-flying Chelsea. Ange Postecoglou's Spurs will have to be a different version of themselves against Chelsea There's a lot about the modern-day structure of a football club that I don’t like. We have a fixture on Monday between West Ham and Wolves which is being distastefully labelled ‘El Sackico’ because both managers’ jobs are at stake. West Ham appointed Julen Lopetegui in the summer and Wolves handed Gary O’Neil a new contract in August, yet here we are, in early December, talking about imminent sackings. It has got to the stage were the most important appointment a manager can make is a good lawyer. He’s the man who has to ensure the exit from your contract is financially advantageous, because you can almost guarantee it’s coming. Managing in the Premier League has never been harder. The balance has never been more unfair. How much of a say have these managers had on recruitment? How much of a say did O’Neil have when Wolves didn’t replace their captain, Max Kilman, and best player, Pedro Neto, in the summer? We have directors of football at clubs, heads of performance, who are all at the front of the queue ready to take credit when a signing works out, but what about when they don’t? You know where the blame goes — it’s the manager’s fault. We hear Lopetegui clashed with Jean-Clair Todibo at West Ham. Why shouldn’t he? After all, aren’t the players responsible for their performances? The 'El Sackico' label for West Ham's match against Wolves on Monday night is a 'disgrace' Lopetegui shouldn not be criticised for reportedly clashing with defender Jean-Clair Todibo Now it’s all about the manager’s tactics, who he selected, what formation he played, what substitutions he made. You hear that old chestnut, ‘Oh, he’s lost the dressing room’ from weak personalities, which seem always to prevail in the modern dressing room. The blame should be falling at the players’ door first, then the directors of football. It’s so frustrating for managers in this modern-day structure. It’s never been further away from my generation, when players bore the brunt of the criticism and would stand up and be counted. I would say to these players, ‘Just have a look in the mirror first, son’. Now the asset value of a player is everything. And now nearly all managers are on rolling contracts. That’s so it’s easier to pay them up that extra year when they say goodbye. In truth, it’s an easier option than getting rid of the players who would demand their full five years were paid up. I enjoyed a really good lunch at Anfield on Friday with Forever Reds, the Liverpool ex-players’ association, which raises money for charity.   It was great to catch up with old friends, particularly Alan Hansen after his return to good health. It’s perhaps fitting we got together on the eve of what will be the final league derby at Goodison Park, a venue that holds such great memories for us all. I for one will be sad to see Goodison go. It was the first English ground I visited as a youngster with Edinburgh Schoolboys and I always remember the majesty of those enormous old stands. It was regal at a time when Everton were nicknamed ‘The Bank of England’ and recognised as one of the top three clubs in the country.   Sadly, over the past 30 years, there has been a slow demise and it is important that the new owners get their recruitment right as that’s not been the case for a long time. I will be sad to see Goodison Park go - it is a stadium with a vast amount of history I recently bumped into an Evertonian acquaintance of mine in his 70s who said to me: ‘I wish I’d been born a Red. ’ Such has been his life following a once-proud club that has struggled so much. The build-up to a derby was always quite special. When you stopped to put petrol in the car or popped into the local shop, you’d be reminded of what was coming. And, when we got to matchday, Bob Paisley or Joe Fagan would always be quick to make you aware — it didn’t matter if we were going well — ‘There’s always a danger you can come unstuck here today’. The great sight was seeing big chunks of red amid the wash of blue in the stands as the same families with differing allegiances used to mix. It was the friendly derby then, at least until that 90 minutes began. Rest assured it will be the same again on Saturday come kick-off. 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