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Rafael Benitez is testing the patience of even the hardcore, long-term supporters of Chelsea, who have at least thought of considering the possibility of the Spaniard bringing about a positive change at the Bridge. The roller coaster set of results since his appointment are a testament to this. Chelsea have never shown such inconsistent results for a very long time, not in the Roman era surely. Such things usually ended in a sacked manager and dejected fan reaction. So, how much can Benitez be blamed for the worst run of games at home and the loss of another Premier League crown?
THE OWNER
No matter how harsh and brutal Roman Abramovich is in dealing with his managers, most of the Chelsea faithful support him, for his actions brought about unprecedented glory to a once mediocre club in England. The media has never had any words of wisdom for the Russian oligarch, as the issue of morality always made the headlines. Jose Mourinho was the one who lasted the longest in the 10 year spell Roman has been at the helm, and he is probably the best manager any club in the world can possibly get. As a foray of managers marched in and out, they were given one clear objective, win a trophy.
Perhaps, the biggest mistake the owner made was the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti, after a trophy-less season following the double. Carlo had the bells ringing when his team went on to secure a memorable fourth league title and an FA Cup, with pomp and style. The second season of his reign had its difficulties, as the club’s transfer policy crippled the ambitions of the Italian. 4 midfielders were shown the door and only 2 were brought in as replacements, and Benayoun got himself injured in October. As a result, Chelsea bowed out of all competitions, but still gave a fight for the league title, which was obviously not enough for Roman. The latest stint of changes, with Di Matteo getting the axe and Benitez getting the job, is claimed to be the influence of the club management.
THE MANAGEMENT
Chelsea is run by a bunch of clowns. There, I said it. No wonder, the scouting system is outstanding and young talent is getting attracted to London, but the basic rules of club management are being forgotten. Chairman Bruce Buck was booed at Stamford Bridge last week when he made an appearance on the pitch to give Petr Cech an award. Director of Football, Emenalo, who was previously the head scout, has been instrumental in acquiring top talent from across the world, thanks to his network. But his involvement in club management has attracted widespread criticism. It is rumored that Benitez’s move to Chelsea was Emenalo’s effort to convince the owner. The contract situations of Lampard and Cole are other areas where the club bosses have failed to replicate the view of fans.
The sacking of Di Matteo, the appointment of Benitez and denying new contracts to Lampard and Cole have landed CEO Gourlay and Buck in hot water. But, what is the point of changing managers, when they are not given the freedom to sign players and voice their concern to the owner? Essien and Meireles were sent out, and the area which already needed reinforcement was crippled even more by such actions. The whole system is flawed; no wonder managing Chelsea is the toughest job in the world. The present scenario does no good for the reputation of the club, as it continues to provide juicy pieces for the media to wallow in.
THE MANAGER
Managers coming to Chelsea deserve every bit of solace. They are burdened with tough targets and aren’t given much time to prove their mettle. You get all the perks, but only if you win something at Stamford Bridge. With almost no say in the transfers and an unfamiliar squad inherited, there is no room for the manager to experiment. Rafa Benitez boldly accepted the challenge, but failed to deliver consistent results. The jeers from fans in home games didn’t help one little bit in motivating the players on the pitch.
Benitez was known as the stabilizer. His teams always had that defensive characteristic, yet his latest stint was anything but. Chelsea blew their first half leads against West Ham and Southampton and went on to get only one point out of six. The task of bringing back the old Torres is almost squashed after Demba Ba was signed and Torres subsequently benched. The manager has failed on all fronts, be it motivating players, making impact substitutions or tactical flexibility. I might be contradicting myself by criticizing Benitez, but the recent results exemplify his failures. When he could have shut the game out by making defensive substitutions, there was no activity from the bench until Chelsea lost a two goal lead.
THE TACTICS
There a lot to discuss on tactics, but let’s concentrate on the major ones which are proving fatal for the Blues. The 4-2-3-1 system itself presents its own challenges. One can adjust it to a 4-4-1-1, provided there are wingers with good defensive ability. Manchester United possess such qualities, as they have wingers who are good at tracking back into their defensive third. In such a system, both the midfielders can be of the ‘floating ‘ type, with no real CDM kind of a player. Both of them take turns going forward as the other sits deep and spreads the play, and the wingers run the whole game. When that’s not the case, the onus is on the two defensive midfielders to run the show. They become the crucial piece of the puzzle in dominating the game. Out of the two, one must surely be a destroyer, with extreme tackling ability and holdup play, as well as the capability to act as a screen ahead of defense. The other is more adventurous going forward, but must also be aware of runs behind him.
Benitez has tried to mix these two strategies by fielding a lightweight midfield and winger combination. As a result, oppositions overran the midfield and the lack of defensive ability in wingers was fully exploited. Chelsea had Mikel in the CDM role for a while, after which he got banned and later on went away to play for Nigeria. Mikel is probably the most underrated CDM ever, as most of the fans always have negative comments for him. When Mikel is on the pitch, there is freedom for the No.10 to impact the game. The solution to this puzzling riddle lies in Oscar. The young Brazilian is talented, but his deployment on the wings offers absolutely no merits. He is better off playing as a No.10 or a support striker.
The MaZaCar obsession, which led to the sacking of Di Matteo, has surfaced again, as Benitez used the trio in successive matches and failed to win both of them. Hazard, Oscar and Mata rotate constantly in the attacking third which is good in an attacking sense, but not much when defending. Teams have resorted to a counter-attack strategy against Chelsea by limiting the space for the attacking trio to operate and breaking fast against the out of position fullbacks. There is no proper traditional winger in the lineup, as MaZaCar play a hybrid No.10 triangle behind the striker. and with that vanishes the width in play. Benitez is gifting the opposition valuable points with his nonsensical tactics, and now boasts the title of the “Worst Chelsea Manager” in the Roman era.
THE PLAYERS
The players are to be blamed only to a certain level when results turn bad. Ivanovic was alone responsible for the loss against the Swans, and he straight away apologized for his mistakes. If tactics was one factor for the draw against Southampton, the lack of motivation is another. Benitez has failed to make the team a cohesive unit and instill pride in them. This can be attributed to the absence of leadership on the pitch. Lampard is a phenomenal player but not as good a leader as Terry. Clearly, Terry was missed in the motivational domain of the game. Experienced players always serve this cause, but a future replacement to Terry as a captain is hard to find in the present squad, as long as the management tries to clear out the aged players.
It is also hard for the players to adjust to different coaching methods with a new manager coming in every 6 months. Fair play to them for working hard for the club in difficult times. The only solution to all this frenzy would be the change of the owner’s mindset and revision of the transfer policy. At present, the only realistic target for Benitez is staying in the Champions League spots until the end of the season. A League Cup or FA Cup win would be a welcome bonus for a confused and troubled Chelsea Football Club.
