Rafa Era Begins :
Ex Champions league winning manager with Liverpool, Rafa Benitez was confirmed as the new INTERIM MANAGER of Chelsea following the sack of Roberto Di Matteo earlier today. After his amazing stints as a manager with both Valencia and Liverpool, Rafa seemed to lose the plot with Inter Milan. He had a Champions League winning team in 2010 but couldn’t capitalize on it. He was thus sacked and was on the lookout for a job since then. But a return to English football will be exactly what he needed and he will be geared up to prove to the world why he was once the two-time UEFA Manager of the Year.
Roman Abramovich does it again
This is the 8th manager under him that came and left the club in his 9 years rule. There was a strong reason for the departure for the other managers : Chelsea not winning the Champions League. But Di Matteo, the fan favorite and loved by the players was sacked despite winning the holy grail for the Blues after less than 9 months in charge.
Reason for sack :
The reason was crystal clear. Series of poor performances in both the league and the Champions League this season. Despite a great start to the domestic season, Chelsea have won just 2 out of their last 8 games and are on the verge to become the first defending champions to get knocked out of the Champions League ever.
What about the Players :
First and foremost, the “Old Guard” will feel its time to move on.
Lampard and Cole have their contracts expiring and it looks likely that they’ll leave the club by at least the next summer if not before.
Torres will have more time to prove his worth. At least the Chelsea fans will hope that the re-union of Rafa and Torres will get the out of shape striker going.
Will their successful combination from the Liverpool days continue at ChelseaMarin will finally start. After his prolonged injury, there were reports that he had a fall out with RDM, so with a change in management, Marin will hope he gets chances.
Spanish contingent will be delighted. Romeu and Azpi will hope to start more.
Season Expectations :
Winning the league looks highly unlikely now. A new manager certainly needs time to settle down and no one will expect Chelsea to win the league now.
Capital One Cup still looks Chelsea’s trophy to lose. With Arsenal the only big club, Chelsea will count their chances to win the Domestic Cup.
But the big one will be the performance in Europe. It looks very likely that Chelsea’s chances in the Champions League look bleak. But if at all Shakhtar beat Juve in the last match and the Gods smile on the Blues again, you never know. Chelsea play the best football when they are under pressure and expected to lose. So a repeat of last season might have just got the ignition it required.
But if Chelsea get eliminated, they still have Europa League left. It’s been more than 10 years since the Blues have played that tournament and with a new manager in, all he’ll want to do is win titles, be it any trophy, big or small. And with the experience of Rafa in Europe, Chelsea will be the favorites to win Europa. Remember, he already won it with Valencia once.
Verdict :
Sacking Di Matteo might hurt many fans and make the pundits criticize Roman’s policy but one has to realize that people recognize Chelsea as one of the biggest clubs in the world right now only because of Roman. His strict policy has made Chelsea win more major titles than the great “Manchester United” itself under his era.
Chelsea vs United under Abramovich eraThe fans may be devastated with the departure of Di Matteo. But they should understand that Abramovich never wanted Di Matteo as a full time manager in the first place. It was the Champions League victory that forced him to retain him.
The fans will take time to adjust with Rafa initially but should back him up immediately and keep the same faith they put in Roman so far.