Roberto Di Matteo himself could be a massive problem for Chelsea. Having won the Champions League as interim manager it is understandable why Roman Abramovich gave him the job. Di Matteo though is inexperienced and he cannot possibly enjoy the same luck as he did last season. He also has huge egos to deal with in that squad. It was clear how much trouble the Chelsea squad can be last year when they didn’t try a leg for Andre Villas Boas and ultimately got him sacked. John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole have made themselves untouchable at Chelsea and now with the egotistical Eden Hazard thrown in to the mix, Di Matteo has quite a problem. Will he be able to handle these issues throughout the season and have the courage to take on John Terry & Co?
Terry is the source of numerous problems for Chelsea. His off-field issues are well documented but it is on field that I feel he could be detrimental in Chelsea’s title challenge. As I said before, John Terry has made himself untouchable by making life tough for previous managers and due to his “Mr.Chelsea” tag. He is though in my eyes, not one of Chelsea’s best centre backs. Gary Cahill and David Luiz are without doubt a stronger pairing at the back for Chelsea but there is no way that Chelsea will leave Terry out.
Di Matteo is not strong enough to do so because he knows the power that Terry has in the dressing room. Anyone with half a yard of pace finds Terry out. We saw at Euro 2012, Zlatan Ibrahimovich embarrassed Terry when it came to a straight foot race. Ibrahimovich is more Peugeot than Ferrari but made John Terry look like a Mini Metro. If Di Matteo has the guts to start the season with John Terry on the bench, Chelsea will have a much stronger tilt at the title.
So overall I think Chelsea are in with a chance of the title if they can solve these issues. They are a better team than their league performances last year showed and with the additions to the squad that they have made, Chelsea have the strength to challenge.
Whether they are quite ready to make up the large number of points that they trailed by last year, I’m not quite sure. If Chelsea can bring in a new striker and Di Matteo can step up the mark they can run it close for sure. Chelsea finished outside the top four last season and shouldn’t be competing in the Champions League in my opinion. They are too good to finish outside the top four this year and if I had to bet on it, I would put Chelsea third, possibly second.
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Mr writer u’re contradicting your self by saying torres is d only striker and also talking of sturridge as an option. Hazard is not a striker and cannot play in that position. Chelsea needs another striker and they’re in d market for that. About malouda and benayoun, d club has made its declearation that they’ll leave before the transfer window closes.