Manager Trouble at the Bridge

March 4th 2012 Roberto Di Matteo was appointed interim team coach until the end of the 2011-2012 season, following the sacking of André Villas-Boas. At the time, I said that the move was only going to be a short term solution for the club and that in the long run they had made a mistake and I feel justified in making those statements. Di Matteo was nothing but a scapegoat for Roman Abramovic. The truth is the Russian owner never wanted him in charge but the Champions League success meant he had to hire him. Nothing was ever going to be enough to keep him in a job this season. 

          It's not good for football to have owners such as Abramovic, who will just throw money at a manager to spend and demand instant and constant success. For Chelsea to become a permanent top club in Europe they need to have some sort of stability. Everybody at the club has to be on the same page and that cannot be the case at Chelsea because too often there are changes and it disrupts the system. Villas-Boas has the right idea when he came in. He wanted to get rid of the older players and bring in some fresh faces and get the team playing his style. If Abramovic wants to invest money in someone it should have been in AVB. Instead he got rid of him because the results weren't outstanding. Now we have the same situation with Di Matteo, who spent over €100 million last Summer and is now out of the job.

          Chelsea need a manager to come in and apply his personality and hos own style to the team. They need someone to come in for three of four years steady the ship. It will take a season or two to get consistency but with the way Abramovic is going through managers they won't ever get the time to do that. You don't have to look far to find how to run a successful club. In the same league Manchester United have established themselves as a top team in world football and the reason is the manager. Sir Alex Ferguson has got complete control over the club and isn't afraid to get rid of top players who think they're bigger than the club. He didn't come in and make an immediate impact. He took time to establish himself at the club and the owners backed him and that's why they've had 26 years of success. You always get the feeling that there are too many egos at Chelsea and that's stopping them from competing at the highest level year in year out. 

          As for his replacement Rafael Benitez, he now has to inherit the problems Di Matteo had. Chelsea have got a number of creative players but not enough goalscorers. Fernando Torres looks disinterested at the best of times and his frustration is getting stronger and stronger with each passing game. Defensively they need to be more stable and add more pace. Time and time again Shane Long and Peter Odemwingie caused them problems with their pace. However, Benitez is known for having teams be difficult to beat and he will sort out their defence. As for attacking, he has had success with Torres before and if he can't get the Spaniard firing then it may be time to cut their losses and let him go in January and bring in someone who can score regularly. I don't want to speak negatively or positively of Benitez until we see what he does with the side and give him a fair chance to prove himself. If he can immediately impose himself then Chelsea might be able to make a decent push at the title and maybe turn around their European fortunes, whether it be in the Champions League or Europa League. If he can't bring success,how long will Abramovic leave him in charge? Only time will tell.