After Andres Villas-Boas’ impromptu sacking, many thought Abramovich’s patience was so short that he needed to pump his money into something other than football. Even though his demands are incredibly high, the ‘Jose Mourinho glory days’ are now over: he cannot even begin to dream about emulating Chelsea’s title winning form yet.
His steely gaze should be focussed upon fourth place, which promises quality European football. But with Roberto Di Matteo resuscitating Chelsea’s season, his arrival may be completely on cue for Abramovich to clinch a Champions League spot. The cynics say that they’ve left it too late, but with the race for the Champions League places still open, don’t rule Chelsea out yet…
I’d firstly like to congratulate Fernando Torres in the least patronizing way possible for breaking his ‘1541 minutes without scoring a goal’ record in style, with a brace against Leicester. Loyal supporters of Torres may claim that the goals were coming, but the bottom line is: for a £50m striker, it simply isn’t good enough. Yes, the goals came: but a 13th placed Championship side (admittedly they do hold two games in hand to move up the table) are hardly the quality Premier League opposition that he used to massacre. Maybe these goals signal the start of a new, goal-scoring Torres – like his Liverpool and AthleticoMadrid days – but he’s going to need a lot more if he truly wants to silence the critics.
We’ve also had the Jacob Mellis scandal, which is disappointing considering the bright young prospects Chelsea are harvesting through their academy. However, this recent story involving yet another footballer – albeit lesser known – has placed Chelsea in a bad light. This is more to do with their conduct favouring certain players: Ashley Cole shoots someone, he gets a warning; Mellis lets off a smoke grenade and he’s ushered out.
Despite some minor adjustments, problems and issues concerning the club, Roberto Di Matteo has done well on his emergency call into management. Maybe the players are responding to him, or maybe they’re just relishing the ‘fresh start’. Either way, it’s doubtless to say that they’ve hit the ground running recently, with some good performances, including a particularly emphatic game against Napoli.
They are also looking bright in terms of attacking. With Daniel Sturridge’s motivation also harnessed upon making the Euro squad, he has been playing excellently of late, although some would argue that he is slightly too selfish. Torres is looking to maintain what he’s recently started, whilst Didier Drogba still looks a menace in front of goal. Add in a sprinkling of Frank Lampard goals, Michael Essein’s work-rate and Ramires’ intelligent passing, and Chelsea certainly aren’t struggling in the attacking department.
Despite patchy form in the Premier League – losing as many as they’ve won in their last four games – they’re starting to look good. A loss against Man City at home is nothing to be ashamed of. With 9 games left, who says they can’t reach Tottenham, who are only six points ahead? They have a slight defensive vulnerability in David Luiz, who, despite creative play mixed with attacking flair from centre back, does leave the defence exposed should other teams counter attack. This is something to watch, as these are unnecessary goals to be conceding.
For me, this isn’t a case of ‘Roberto Di Matteo’s come in, they’re playing well, and Chelsea are unstoppable’. Definitely not – there’s still a lot to work on, but Di Matteo seems to be operating well since his appointment. I think if Chelsea shake off their inconsistency and pull together, there’s no reason why they can’t get fourth, maybe even third, spot. On the other hand, Abramovich can only realistically go for the F.A. Cup this season: Barcelona and Real Madrid are much stronger favourites to take the honours in the Champions League, whilst Chelsea have made the F.A. Cup semi-final, so their hopes must now point to lifting that Cup in May at Wembley. It makes for an interesting end of season on the blue side of West London.
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