I read an article a few days back, regarding this intriguing case. It was written by Mick Dennis, a writer from the Daily Express who stated that the players were not to blame for Chelsea’s current demise. It’s an interesting debate but I’m sure many were sad to see the back of such a young and talented manager who had achieved a flawless campaign in his previous spell at FC Porto. His tenure at Chelsea was cut short at just 9 months after a run of just 1 win in 7 games. The Blues are now looking at a trophyless season and whether or not they should have sacked Andre Villas-Boas remains to be seen. But who was to blame for their poor form?
It’s been a dire season by Chelsea’s high standards. The fortress that was Stamford Bridge is no more and this has been the case since their mind-blowing unbeaten home run was ended a few years ago. This form has deteriorated since the departure of the “Special One” so calls for his return are understandable. Jose Mourinho made Chelsea into a physical side with bags of talent and endeavour, although you wouldn’t associate these characteristics with the current side.
I’m not a Chelsea fan myself but I was extremely disappointed when I heard the news of AVB’s sacking, needless to say I wasn’t surprised. What made it frustrating was that it was straight after the defeat to West Brom, in a game where I felt Chelsea could have easily won the match with the openings they created. AVB speaked a lot of sense during his interviews after continuously being hurled questions about his future. Any manager would have eventually cracked, but Villas-Boas was solid and a true gentleman in the way he conducted himself.
You could also sense the players weren’t giving maximum effort – take Daniel Sturridge for example. A fantastic young talent; there’s no doubting that. But he showed his naivety and lack of effort with WBA keeper Ben Foster easily tackling him in a promising position for Chelsea with the score goalless. Furthermore, players like Fernando Torres and David Luiz are failing to live up to their huge price tags and AVB has become the second manager (after Ancelotti) to be unsuccessful in getting the best out of these big money signings.
Even opposing teams players are having a pop at Chelsea’s big guns – take Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny. In an interview with The Sun, he talked about player power being behind AVB’s sacking as he quoted: “Some of the English lads at Chelsea run the club, pretty much.” It baffles me that a player can speak so strongly on a subject that doesnt involve him, but it’s a brave statement. Maybe he’s speaking on behalf of many of The Blue’s rivals.
However, there was certainly problems with the way AVB went about his business at Stamford Bridge. Fans voiced their anger at some of his selection decisions, most notably in the defeat away against Napoli. He left seasoned veterans like Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole on the substitutes bench who have lots of Champions League experience. This infuriated Chelsea fans and it lead to many calling for his dismissal. Villas-Boas at that point was reluctant in admitting his selection was wrong but leaving out Frank Lampard didn’t help his relationship with the Chelsea legend. Lampard has stated in the past that his relationship with AVB wasn’t the best; the problem there being the small age gap between the two.
So, Chelsea are clearly back to square one again. They’re now looking for their 5th manager in 5 years and it’s now time for billionaire owner Roman Abramovich to stop his ruthless sacking of managers and wake up to reality. Football clubs often take a few years to build and Chelsea were going through the cognitive phase of that process. AVB was trying to build for the future, as you can see in his signings: Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku and Oriol Romeu to name a few. The “project” needed time to work and AVB unfortunately didn’t get that. So, where now? Pay mega bucks for Mourinho or risk it with Di Matteo or Benitez? For a start, Abramovich will have to try and persuade whoever he wants to join the most volatile club in world football.
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No doubt, this time I really blame the players. Some of them, one was the most often cited as his biggest critic in the team, played lke he wanted to sabotage AVB in the game against WBA. It was a sad thing to see. But this time it wil backfire, they might have gotten rid of AVB, but they might also gotten rid of themselves as Chelsea players in the Summer.