As
all football fans know, it’s only a matter of time in each Barclays Premier
League season before the first managerial casualties are confirmed. This season
is no different and, sure enough, it’s taken just twelve games for the first
heads to roll along the touchline and out of play for the foreseeable future.
First Chelsea and then Q.P.R. have parted company with the men charged with
overseeing the clubs’ assaults on the E.P.L. from the dugout and, as always,
many questions have been thrown up by both the sackings themselves and the
candidates chosen to replace the dearly departed. The main question however, is
have the decision makers done the right thing? In this article, the focus will
be on Chelsea’s tactical substitution.
Roberto
di Matteo took over the reins at Stamford Bridge, initially as interim manager,
in February of this year. Taking over from Andre Villas Boas, who endured a
harrowing experience as boss of the Blues at the hands of both the players and
the press, Di Matteo enjoyed a blissful honeymoon period during the closing
stages of last season.
Chelsea
fans were practically resigned to exiting the Champions League having been
taken to school by Napoli in the first leg of their quarter final tie at the
San Paolo. However, Di Matteo’s appointment, coming just days after that
humbling 3-1 defeat, galvanised the
squad and helped the Blues to an unlikely 4-1 victory in the second leg,
sending them through. A win against Barcelona followed and in the final, against
Bayern Munich in Munich, Chelsea produced a stoic performance. Capitalising on
the German side’s profligacy in front of goal, the Blues managed to hold Bayern
to a 1-1 draw after extra-time and, as we all know, recorded an unlikely
victory in the resultant penalty shoot-out.
Within
three months of taking over as interim manager, Di Matteo had managed to give
Abramovich his holy grail, the one trophy that even the mighty Mourinho had
failed to deliver and, as a little side gift, the Italian led Chelsea to FA Cup
victory too. Abramovich had a decision to make, he wanted Guardiola to take the
job, however the Spaniard wasn’t keen, so what to do now? Despite the two cup
victories, Di Matteo was only ever supposed to be a short term fix, not the man
that Roman envisaged taking Chelsea forward. However, disregarding the fact
that under the Italian Chelsea had registered a poorer Premier League points
return than under AVB, Abramovich gave him the job.
Fast
forward to now and after twelve games Di Matteo’s stint as Chelsea manager has
been consigned to the history books. A promising start, albeit mostly against
relatively weak opposition, hit the buffers in a big way and a run of four
Premier League games without a win, coupled with the Blues’ stuttering Champions
League form, has seen the curtain brought down on yet another manager at
Stamford Bridge.
There
are arguments for and against the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo, mostly centring
on whether the Italian “deserved” to go or not. For me, this question is an
irrelevance. The fact is Roman Abramovich has bankrolled Chelsea to the tune of
hundreds of millions, without his money Chelsea could well have gone under and
with his money Chelsea have enjoyed by far and away the most successful period
in their history. Blues fans have profited massively from the Russian’s
investment and his autocratic ownership style so it would be a tad churlish for
them to complain too vociferously about his latest managerial casualty, club
legend or not.
The
real question in my mind is why Abramovich chose to appoint Roberto Di Matteo
in the first place. Granted, he managed the team to Champions League and FA Cup
glory, however he won both those trophies, particularly the Champions League, utilising
a defensive style that although successful, was the exact opposite of the style
of football that Abramovich reportedly has his heart set on – that of
Barcelona. On top of that, managing a team to a gritty cup success in one off
showpiece matches, is quite different to being able to successfully manage one
of Europe’s top clubs throughout a full gruelling season.
As
mentioned above, Chelsea’s league form under Di Matteo left a lot to be desired
and was, with the benefit of hindsight, a prelude to this season’s league
failures. Abramovich doesn’t seem like the type to be pressurised by fan
opinion, so why did he appoint Di Matteo when he was clearly reticent to do so?
The speed and ruthlessness with which he dismissed Di Matteo illustrates that
Abramovich was never happy with the Italian in the hotseat, so why place him
there in the first instance?
Di
Matteo’s only previous managerial experience at the top level came several
seasons ago when he had a spell in charge of West Bromwich Albion. After
winning promotion back to the EPL at the first time of asking, Di Matteo had a
great start to Premier League life with the Baggies. Pundits drooled over the Baggies new fluid
attacking style and the Italian won the Manager of the Month award for
September.
However,
after that the wheels came off Di Matteo’s Albion bandwagon rather quickly, as
a run of just one victory in ten Premier League games during the Christmas
period resulted in the former Chelsea star being handed his P45. Prior to his
time at the Baggies, Di Matteo had had a season as manager of the MK Dons in
League one. He did well there, finishing third but losing out in the play-off
semi-final against Scunthorpe. I think it has to be said, taking over as
Chelsea manager was a big step-up for Roberto Di Matteo, and one which was
always likely to be short-lived.
The
man who has been chosen to bring success to West London, at least in the
short-term, is Rafael Benitez and, whether Blues fans like or not, the
appointment would appear to be a prudent one. Benitez has been out of
management for around two years; however he remains one of the sport’s master
tacticians. He has won two La Liga titles, the Champions League, the Spanish
Cup, the FA Cup, the UEFA Cup, the Super Cup, the Club World Cup, and many
other trophies during his managerial career, as well as twice being named UEFA
Manager of the Year; not a bad CV.
Benitez’s
blend of tactical genius and calculated pragmatism could be exactly what
Chelsea need in this transitional period between the Mourinho hangover (still
there after five years without the Portuguese) and the free flowing,
Barcelona-esque style that Abramovich is so desperate to see. The first thing
that Benitez will do is to shore up the defence and stop Chelsea from giving
away goals; this can be seen from the performance and the result against
Manchester City. The next thing Benitez will do is to try and replace the
presence in the team of big characters such as Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and
John Terry, something which a succession of Chelsea managers have failed to do
and will prove to be massively important for Chelsea’s evolution.
Then
there’s the Fernando Torres situation. Under Benitez at Liverpool, Torres
enjoyed the most productive years of his footballing career. During a four year
spell, Torres netted 81 goals in 142 appearances, compared with 91 goals in 242
appearances for his previous club Athletico Madrid and 19 goals in 88
appearances for Chelsea to date. There are those that say he was in his peak
years at Liverpool, however Torres left Merseyside at 26 years of age,
apparently with plenty still in the tank. The switch to Chelsea obviously
hasn’t worked out as planned, the stats bear this out, and Roman
Abramovich is now desperate to get the
best out of his £50m white elephant.
Whether
Torres can return to anything like his form in those halcyon days at Liverpool
remains to be seen. He appears to have lost a yard of pace and, from watching
him play on numerous occasions, it’s hugely evident that the Spaniard possesses
nothing like the self-belief that once coursed through his veins when he was
tearing defences to shreds and scoring some of the best goals to have ever
graced the Premier League. However, if there is a man out there who can return
Torres to something approaching his former glory, then that man is Rafael
Benitez.
Finally,
to the fans. Chelsea fans have a long-running dislike of Rafael Benitez dating
back to those emotional, dramatic Champions League encounters during the
mid-noughties. A lot of harsh words were exchanged between Chelsea and
Liverpool during that period and many wounds from that time will never fully
heal. The Stamford Bridge faithful made their position very clear during
Sunday’s encounter with Manchester City. Benitez was roundly booed by the home
support, with many carrying banners which read “Benitez Out” and “In Rafa We
Will Never Trust”. This is understandable in a way, given the animosity which
had built up against Liverpool and Benitez over the years. However, Benitez has
been away from the Premier League for three seasons now and, showing solidarity
for a sacked hero is one thing but cutting off your nose to spite your face is
another. Quite simply, Rafa Benitez is one of the best managers in World
football, right up there with Jose Mourinho (hence the bitter rivalry), Chelsea
in reality can do no better in terms of a replacement for the now departed
Roberto Di Matteo.
The
Premier League is weak this year. Manchester City and Manchester United remain
unconvincing, despite a run of positive results. Beneath them, it is a free for
all at the moment with any team capable of beating any other on their day, with
the exception perhaps of the bottom three. The way I see it, the title is there
for the taking. If Benitez can solidify Chelsea and make them hard to beat, in
a similar way to Di Matteo last season, whilst getting the most out of their
wonderfully talented attacking options, there is no reason why they can’t make
a serious push to bring the title back to London. If Benitez manages that, in
spite of their protestations to the contrary, Blues fans may have to admit to
the fact that sometimes, it’s better the devil you know than the devil you
don’t.
By Neil Patterson
Email: neil.b.patterson@gmail.com
Facebook: http://goo.gl/MJce0
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Neil1980
