Source: BBC Football
Sport InsightEast meets west London – the mentor who changed ChelseaPublished21 August 2024Updated 22 August 2024Image source,Getty ImagesByNizaar KinsellaBBC Sport football news reporterVinay Menon knew little about Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. He knew even less about football; he had never seen a match in his life.But as he approached the door of Abramovich’s west London mansion in 2009, he was about to have a meeting that would change his life and transform him into, arguably, the most famous Indian in the sport.Born in Kerala and inspired by his maternal ‘yogi’ grandfather to pursue a career in wellness, Menon was a word-of-mouth recommendation to the Russian oligarch.He was delivering wellness, yoga and relaxation exercises to billionaires and celebrities at a luxury hotel in Dubai, when the father of Abramovich’s then-wife Dasha booked in for a session.Menon then came to London to run private classes for the Abramovichs. But Roman was so impressed by Menon that he sent him to Chelsea’s Cobham training ground with a brief to work with the first-team squad as the Premier League’s first wellness coach.”Roman asked for it to happen and it happened,” Menon says.”I was an Indian, who was never exposed to football, entering a massive club and it seemed impossible.”There was a big barrier, but it was not an immovable rock because it came from the owner himself – he initiated that change so everyone was ready to try.”Image source,GettyImage caption,Abramovich, pictured in 2009, bought Chelsea in a deal worth £140m in July 2003Still, the arrival of Menon and his philosophy was a culture shock for a squad who had finished as either Premier League champions or runners-up in the previous five seasons.”We are talking about elite performance – change is always difficult,” Menon says.”Adding or taking away is always difficult, people don’t want to change because they are already performing and winning. Why should they?”Everyone treated me well but training the players wasn’t easy initially. I should thank a few players, who were ready to try me.”None of the players were obliged to work with Menon. Instead his services were available if any felt they would be useful.Striker Didier Drogba quickly became Menon’s key advocate.”Didier was the initial one – Chelsea is like one big family and we just sat and ate in the canteen with the players and so we started a conversation organically while eating,” says Menon.”He asked what I can do for him, and I told him we can try this, and he asked me to try right away. That was the moment where football opened in front of me.”After that Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, John Terry began coming to me to try it.”The medical department were fantastic and made me part of their team, despite being from a different discipline.”Menon’s sessions involved meditation, sharpening players’ mental approach and dispelling the negative thoughts that can come with top-flight pressure and scrutiny.”I was a person without a title, teaching the …
Published: 2024-08-21T23:04:58
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