The Di Matteo Departure

Wednesday 21^st November

The Di Matteo Departure

Writing this blog I realised that Chelsea have acquired and sacked more managers in the last 7 years than Arsenal/Liverpool/Spurs have won trophies.

If I had any self-respect I would boycott The Bridge on Sunday and sell my Man. City ticket for a tidy profit. Instead I shall be venturing down to SW6 with my Chelsea shirt on and CV in hand, hoping that Roman will choose me out of the vying hopefuls. I would love to say that I’m surprised at the sacking of RDM but it was clear his days were numbered even before his appointment. Chelsea have produced a destructive churn of unemployed managers under the Abramovich reign that includes World cup winners, Champions League winners and the ‘un-sackable’ Mourinho. The Russian billionaire has even got rid of fan’s favourites Ray Wilkins and Eva Carneiro in what seems to be ruthless dictatorship fuelled by ownership power and a sordid view of what’s best for the club. Before long any ‘big’ manager will not even consider the Chelsea job fear of being embarrassingly dismissed after a run of 3 losing games and losing reputation.  

Di Matteo’s short career as Chelsea manager will be nostalgically remembered in the heart of all Chelsea fans that watched the club achieve the Holy Grail for the first time in Munich. It was clear that Roman did not regard Roberto as a suitable, top-grade manager for HIS club despite all the success he achieved in the summer of 2012. Abramovich toiled for days after the Champions League win before reluctantly presenting a 2-year contract for Chelsea’s most successful caretaker manager. Any other club would have erected a bronze statue of RDM outside the ground before throwing him a 5 year deal in the Munich hotel room the morning after that glorious win – but not Chelsea. Had Pep Guardiola not chosen to take a sabbatical I believe Di Matteo may not have been offered a contract at all.

Rafa Benitez was appointed as Chelsea’s new interim manager as I was writing this blog. I could write a book let alone another blog on why Rafa is the wrong man for Chelsea. He left a mess at Liverpool before leaving a bigger mess at Inter and if his form continues then Chelsea may be playing League 1 football before they win the Champions League again. The reception on Sunday will be interesting as I’m yet to hear a Chelsea fan that is pleased about the Benitez selection, the worst managerial appointment possible for the club (with the exception of Jedward, Rylan, Kenny Dalglish or the tenor from the Go Compare adverts). If I were John Terry or Ashley Cole I would refuse to shake his hand on the training ground on basic principle. Maybe John Terry can introduce himself to Mrs Benitez to get the ball rolling and make Rafa reconsider. 

Chelsea 1 - 1 Liverpool

Sunday 11^th November:

Chelsea 1 – 1 Liverpool

Today at the match it was easy to distinguish between the decent fans and those that society holds little hope for, you simply identified whether or not they were wearing a poppy to mark remembrance Sunday.

This encounter had developed into a must-win game for the blues due to the results of yet another exciting weekend in the Premiership. Both Manchester clubs came from behind to grab 3 points and hoist themselves as the clear top two in the table. A queue outside the pub was not ideal on a chilly Sunday afternoon. Once in it was the same old routine of pint swigging whilst refreshing twitter to receive the eagerly anticipated team news. With Luiz stricken with illness John Terry was back to captain the team after his four-match ban.  Strangely Azpilicueta was introduced with Ivanovic moving inwards and Cahill remaining on the bench. RDM seems to be apprehensive about playing the Terry-Cahill defensive partnership, strange when one considers their dual record for both club and country. Frustratingly Liverpool decided to play 5 defenders for the second year in a row (newspapers wrongly stated a 3-5-2-1 formation) and settling for a bore draw. A pathetic tactic rarely used by lower league opposition let alone a Premiership club.

Chelsea started on the front foot with Liverpool not able to establish any type of attack. The blues repeatedly knocked on the door with some decent counter-attacking football before the deadlock was finally broken 20 minutes in. The script had been written and up stepped captain John Terry to head home Mata’s swinging corner. The little Spaniards set piece play has been magical all season, assisting with corners and scoring free kicks for fun – he’s like Zola but with a beard. Terry celebrated as if it was his first ever goal for Chelsea, marking his comeback perfectly to the delight of the crowd. Sadly the comeback was to be short-lived as Ramires tackled Suarez and sent the Liverpool striker hurtling into Terry, the harrowing scream echoed around the stadium and fans began to fear the worse. Thankfully John was lucky not to break a bone and will be out for weeks rather than months. There was still time for Mata to miss a glorious opportunity to double our lead before half time. Liverpool had two chances in a game of complete Chelsea control and took one of them, the smash and grab involved a flick on from a corner before who else but Suarez found the back of the net. After that it was all Liverpool and the reds could have won it at the death. A poor result that was no reflection on the exceptional Chelsea performance, proving once again that you need to take your chances in the Premiership when on top.