Introduction
For a long time now, I have intended on starting a blog about my lifetime club Chelsea F.C. Recently however, patience has been tested and frustration has increased as Chelsea have gone through one of the worst patches of form in my lifetime. Difficult to obtain the will to start a blog in such conditions.
Andre Villas-Boas
Whoever is to blame, at Chelsea, it is always the manager who has to ultimately pay the price. Today marks the day when Chelsea release their 6th manager in 5 years in the form of Andre Villas-Boas. The chopping and changing of mangers at this club stems from Mr Abramovich's desire (obsession) with winning the coveted 'Holy Grail' which is the UEFA Champions League. As a lifetime fan I have become accustom to the constant changing of manager however, the one thing that rarely changes season to season are the tactics. The underlying tactics of the team stem from Jose Mourinho's reign in charge of the blues, this is mainly due to the core players in the team such as Frank Lampard, John Terry, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole still all being an integral part of the squad. Granted, Mourinho's tactics shaped and revolutionised premiership football (in my opinion), but when you have a new boss, you must get behind his way of playing and his philosophy on football in order to win games. When such a divide appears, which was evident during the Andre Villas-Boas era, in the form of the Portuguese speaking players like David Luiz getting clear preferential treatment over the disgruntled 'core' players such as Lampard, it is a recipe for disaster. I am not saying here that it is AVB's fault for constantly dropping Lampard, it suggests to me that the manager had no choice in dropping Lampard. 1) He wasn't playing amazing and 2) was against his ways, it would be stupid for any manager to start a player who contains that pair of attributes.
Andre Villas-Boas was brought in under a four year plan which appeared to be a change in tactic from Abramovich to win the Champions League by building from the base up. The phrase 'transition season' has been thrown around regarding Chelsea this season and that's exactly what it was. However, it was of financial importance to qualify for the Champions League as the money acquired from the competition was an important factor in the budgeting of the club to meet the UEFA's fair play rules. The clear in-ability to obtain 4th place is what I think, ultimately cost Boas his job. Had 4th been obtainable consistently, I believe AVB would have kept his job regardless of the in house split. Boas had 4 years to sort that problem out. It was deemed unacceptable by Abramovich to not be in the Champions League next year and in order to get there, he has clearly decided to do something ASAP. It may in fact be too late to salvage 4th spot and perhaps the change was required sooner (perhaps in time to snatch Guus Hiddink from Anzi?) but the loss of AVB will go down as another wasted season and another waste of time which may, in the end, bring us back to where we started. Jose Mourinho.
Roberto Di Matteo
The sacking of Andre Villas-Boas sees the assistant manager and former Chelsea player Roberto Di Matteo take charge (temporarily) of the blues. It is this which really confuses me. Names such as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola won't be available under any circumstances until the end of the season and Di Matteo is part of the exact same system that Boas was constructing. I can't see how an in house promotion is going to make any difference to the remaining fixtures other than further increase tensions amongst the payers. Surely, there was no advantage of doing this, all this shows is that the players truly do control the club. In my opinion, under such conditions, a player would make the best temporary manager. If, in fact, Mourinho is on the brink of returning, I say let John Terry become player manager for the rest of the season to try and spark some sort of unison in that ego filled dressing room.
The Mourinho Way
When the special one left in 2007, it was the day after a 1-1 draw with Champions League new comers Rosenborg. The draw came after a few puzzling performances where Mourinho looked to have lost a certain element of power over the squad as he was having to pick the squad tailored by Abramovich's choice. In a period of madness, the owner became devoted to wining the Champions League by operating under the rule of - if you don't win it, get out. It was in the same season (2007-2008) where Chelsea reached the final and lost on penalty's. Clearly, that squad was still operating under the way Mourinho had trained and successfully unified the dressing room. It is clear that Avram Grant was merely just a face. With all respect to the man, he barely spoke English and had the charisma of a Sloth. This theme continued under multiple managers who took various stands on the whole situation. Some simply went along with the players and tried to work together (Ancalotti & Guus Hiddink) while others tried to stand up and make a change (Scolari & AVB).
However, it looks like it's going to all become full circle if Mourinho returns. Is this a good thing? Yes if he stays long term, an attribute of Mourinho is that he doesn't like to be tied down, he wins it, then moves on. Alternatively, this time, if he returns, he has already won all of Europe's major leagues (assuming Real don't throw a 10 point lead away) so perhaps he see's Chelsea as un-finished business (in terms of the Champions League). Furthermore, he loves the English press, media and fans. He loved the fact everyone had that love hate relationship with him and that the media would hang on his every word and kill for a crazy quote. He also revelled in the fact that everyone hates Chelsea and made him feel like it was us verses the world. On the other hand, if he does leave after 2/3 seasons once again the whole cycle will begin once again. It would be somewhat like dumping a girl only to spend years searching around for another all of whom were never quite as good as the one you let go. Losing that person twice could destroy everything!
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These are my thought's and analysis of the whole situation at the moment. I expect people to disagree or bring forward new idea's so please comment. Depending on feedback, I may continue the blog to review games, putting my view on news and just talking about the famous or in most people's eyes infamous - Chelsea F.C.
KTBFFH
(Keep.The.Blue.Flag.Flying.High)
@Andy_B_Carefree
If AVB had 4 years i think he could have turned chelsea into a top class team again. Abramovich needs to realise chelsea need to go backwards before they can go forward again. the youth isn;t up to scratch like at Man United AVB was working on reducing the average age of that team but with the inexperience will come inconsistency. Whoever manages them next has one hell of a job on their hands trying to sweep out the cobwebs whilst developing the youth.
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