![\"Newcastle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2252189470.jpg\")
\n\t\tDo Chelsea need to change their plan to succeed? (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tDo Chelsea need to change their plan to succeed? (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Gary Neville<\/a> says Chelsea are lacking \u2018beasts\u2019 and they will not achieve what the owners want them to unless they sign some.<\/p>\n The Blues are fourth in the Premier League<\/a> table after a 2-2 draw<\/a> with Newcastle<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n It was a memorable game at St James\u2019 Park which saw the home team go 2-0 ahead and look very comfortable at half-time.<\/p>\n Then the Blues turned things around and were far better after the break, with Reece James<\/a> and Joao Pedro<\/a> scoring to secure a point.<\/p>\n Under owners BlueCo, Chelsea have built a very expensive and very young squad, signing prospects on long contracts and hoping to build into a world-beating team.<\/p>\n There has been some success, with manager Enzo Maresca winning the UEFA Conference League and the Club World Cup<\/a> in his first season in charge.<\/p>\n However, Neville thinks they must invest in some experience and guile down the spine of the team if they are to progress to the next level.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018It\u2019s really obvious that Maresca is a fantastic coach and it\u2019s really obvious that there\u2019s a group of players who are really young with fantastic potential,\u2019 the Manchester United level said on The Gary Neville Podcast.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018I just wonder whether Maresca could just change the model slightly, he\u2019s been brought in to work with these players, but you do need an experienced spine.<\/p>\n \u2018You watch Chelsea<\/a> first half and they look like an academy team that\u2019s playing in a participation game. It\u2019s not really a serious, aggressive, horrible fixture. You watch them in the second half and they look like a thrill.<\/p>\n \u2018If you had some more experience down that spine and some higher quality in certain positions they would be a very different proposition.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018They\u2019re doing well together, but I get the feeling like they\u2019re not going to get to where the ownership want and it\u2019s not the fault of the manager or the players. I think they should have built a squad to win now. They built a squad to grow. The problem is you grow and you grow and you\u2019re never quite there because the other teams are cold hearted killers at times.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tPrefer us to the others? Then tell Google!\t\t\t<\/p>\n As a loyal Metro reader, we want to make sure you never miss our stories when searching for your news. Whether it is the latest politics news explained, live football coverage or a showbiz scoop.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Chelsea need some beasts\u2019<\/p>\n Neville recalls players of successful Chelsea teams of the recent past, believing the current side lacks similar stars.<\/p>\n \u2018Chelsea need some beasts. You think of teams Chelsea had with the likes of [John] Terry, [Claude] Makelele, [Frank] Lampard, [Didier] Drogba, Diego Costa. They were battering rams, they were massive physical presences, leaders and big presences.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018I don\u2019t see the players in centre-forward or centre-back or goalkeeper being those characters. I think they\u2019re going to have to intervene and give them a spine of real fierce, physical characters.<\/p>\n \u2018Just interesting watching them. I feel like sometimes I\u2019m watching them and it\u2019s quite frustrating because they could be further ahead.\u2019<\/p>\n Chelsea are back on home turf for their final two games of 2025, hosting in-form Aston Villa on Saturday and then Bournemouth on Tuesday December 30.<\/p>\n Maresca speaks out on Newcastle performance<\/p>\n Maresca hailed the character of his team in their performance at Newcastle, saying: \u2018For sure in the first half we have things that we can do better, but the way they showed in the second half character, togetherness, they have to feel proud.<\/p>\n \u2018Being 2-0 down against Newcastle away, in this stadium, in this noise, in this environment, it is not easy, not many teams could do that, and they have done it.\u2019<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"FBL-ENG-PR-NEWCASTLE-CHELSEA\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2252159296.jpg\")
\n\t\tRobert Sanchez remains Chelsea\u2019s first choice goalkeeper (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"FBL-ENG-PR-NEWCASTLE-CHELSEA\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2252166524.jpg\")
\n\t\tReece James was the Blues\u2019 standout player at St James\u2019 Park (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Headshots-1-78d4.jpg\")
\n\t\tOur journalists work hard to deliver the most important stories from around the world<\/p>\n![\"Liverpool](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-143915675.jpg\")
\n\t\tChelsea legends John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba celebrating the 2012 FA Cup win (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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\nMORE: Gary Neville rules one team out of Premier League title race with Arsenal<\/a><\/p>\n