Chelsea appoint new manager (Again)
Is a headline which is seemingly in the press every 8/9 months. It’s beyond a joke now.
Yes Roberto Di Matteo has been shown the door by trigger happy owner Roman Abramovich following their 3-0 defeat by Juventus, only 6 months after winning the Champions League trophy for the first time in the clubs history.
He’s been replaced by ex-Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, a man Chelsea fans refer to charmingly as “a fat Spanish waiter”.
Benitez has been given a two season contact; it will cover winter and spring. Critics estimate that by the year 2050 everyone will be within six feet of an ex-Chelsea manager.
All jokes aside that fact that Benitez is now the NINTH manger of Abramovich’s eight year reign is a truly remarkable statistic. What is even more remarkable is that the West London club have managed to be relatively successful during a period of continuous upheaval under the ludicrously wealthy tycoon.
You get the feeling that whoever Abramovich appoints is only keeping the place ticking over before Pep Guardiola decides to make his return to management.
At that point in time the rumour mill will go into overdrive as every single top level club in the whole entire world attempts to charm Senor Pep into becoming their new boss.
But back to Chelsea. Since Abramovich decided to make Chelsea his new plaything eight long years ago he has hired and fired some of the most talented and well respected managers in club football. And so far not one has seemingly been up to his ridiculously high standards.
Even Jose Mouriniho, the Special One, was binned after failing to win the Champions League and create a team who play exciting and attacking football. Mouriniho may be a successful coach but beauty is one trait his teams don’t usually exhibit. Just look at Mesut Ozil.
It’s difficult not to sympathise with Di Matteo. He managed, against all odds, to deliver the Champions League last season and even ushered in a new wave of sexy attacking football with a team built around the talents of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar.
Shame the defence was so dodgy. The usually watertight backline has been incredibly porous since the various injuries, suspensions and court cases of John Terry have left them without their ever reliable skipper.
And the first thing the slightly podgy Spanish caterer will have to deal with is sorting the defence; we’ll see how they warm to Benitez’s favoured zonal marking tactic.
After that he has the unenviable task of getting the £50 million man scoring again. Benitez may be the man who brought Fernando Torres to this country during his time as Liverpool boss but the jury’s out on whether he can finally be the man to help him relocate his shooting boots.
He won’t be the first to try, and he almost certainly won’t be the last.
Robert Lock
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