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May 19th 2012. A day which will be etched forever in the hearts of the fans of Chelsea football club. This was the day that eluded Roman back in 2008. This was the moment that club legends like Didier Drogba, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech and Ashley Cole have been waiting for. It indeed seems to be a form of poetic justice that Chelsea had to attain their holy grail via a penalty shootout and after hiring and firing seven managers, a former Chelsea player, Roberto Di Matteo had to lead them to European glory.
After a turbulent season that saw them finishing sixth in the league, Chelsea managed to pull the rabbit out of the hat and win two of the most prestigious trophies – FA cup and UEFA champions league. Does Roberto Di Matteo deserve all the accolades? What did he do that Andres Villas- Boas failed to do? He trusted the old guards and they delivered. Now, that is really great man-management. Since Di Matteo is an ex-Chelsea player, he will be more emotionally attached to the club and the respect will be mutual amongst him and the players. Is this quality enough to get him the permanent job? Many would say yes. But, what is holding back Ron Gourlay to not announce the decision yet? Di Matteo seems an automatic choice. But, there is more than that which meets the eye.
Roberto Di Matteo, unlike Andres Villas Boas, does not have a glittering start to his managerial career and was fired from West Bromwich Albion. Following this setback, he was rejected from being the manager for both Cardiff city and Birmingham city. If he was offered any one of the two jobs, there would have been no Di Matteo to assist Villas Boas, no Di Matteo to manage Chelsea.
Contrary to winning an unprecedented double this season, Di Matteo’s Premier League record is as bad as that of Andres Villas Boas. He managed to accumulate 18 points out of a possible 33 with wins coming against teams below them in the table, namely Wigan Athletic, QPR, Blackburn Rovers, Stoke City and Aston Villa; draws against Tottenham and Arsenal and losing the rest.
Di Matteo took the reins when it was in a shambolic state, staring at elimination from both FA cup and UEFA Champions league. He did inspire the team, more than winning the games tactically in the FA cup. The seniors put up their hands, claimed responsibility and performed in the semi finals and finals of the FA cup.
In the Champions League, one has to hand it to Di Matteo for motivation and getting the tactics spot on against Napoli at Stamford Bridge and against Benfica. But the same cannot be said about the semi finals and finals. One has to say he was helped by poor finishing by the Catalans and Bavarians. Apart from the historic Napoli triumph, Chelsea seemed to be the second best team against Barcelona in both the legs and against Bayern in the finals. Chelsea opted for a defensive strategy, a.k.a ‘parking the bus’, and trying to outwit the opposition by counter attacking. Yet they conceded 70 odd attempts on goal in the three games, but emerged as winners. Many would have thought the likes of Gomez and Messi, who have a combined tally of 106 goals, unable to score against Chelsea was something beyond explanation. Tactically, Chelsea were outplayed and seemed lost without Ramires and Meireles in midfield. Bayern’s woeful finishing, accompanied by a shoddy performance from the Robben-Ribbery duo, and Drogba making the most of the one chance helped them get to extra time. In extra time, a moment of brilliance from Cech took them in to the penalties.
On the other hand, there are people who argue that defence is also part of football and games are played to win. To win a game and qualify is mandatory, rather than focus on beautiful football. Di Matteo has drawn flak from Cryuff and many legends. It is not that Chelsea did not want to go forward. They did. If it’s totally negative football, they would have been happy passing it between Cahill-Luiz-Cole-Cahill-Cech etc. and, just hold till the penalties and win. Chelsea had to play to their strengths, and they were without Ramieres, Meireles, Ivanovic and Terry. He was brave enough to employ that and Di Matteo has had the last laugh now.
One can say it all boiled down to the players’ belief and motivation that won them the cups rather than Roberto Di Matteo. The individual performances stood out and crafted a silver lining in the season. As Gary Neville said, ”It’s written in the stars”, and maybe Di Matteo’s fate was also written along with it. But is he the right man to take them forward? Can he deliver the results consistently? More importantly, can a manager just ride with his luck and fully depend on his players to deliver every time? There are many questions that arise with respect to Di Matteo. But many Chelsea fans, like me, always believe.
