"We've waited so long, but we'd wait
forever. Our Blood is Blue, and we will leave you never." – Those lines are from the song
“Blue day” by Suggs. Those lines could have been created at the Allianz Arena
in the Champions League Final. Thus saluting Roman Abramovich for his
incredible spending with the London Football Club Chelsea FC. However, that’s
not the case. This song was made to salute the team before we ‘had money’. This
song is from the ‘glory’ days. Back when Liverpool fans weren’t singing that we
have no history – the days when Russia & Chelsea weren’t mentioned in the
same sentence. Those days are gone.
Abramovich
bought the Club, and created one of the most successful clubs in the last 8 or
9 years. After Claudio Ranieri was sacked, he brought in The Special One, José
Mourinho; and since then there have been numerous ‘Blue Days’. Until one day,
when Abramovich decided that the team should play like Barcelona – thus
creating the AVB-CFC-Team. We all now how that turned out. AVB was sacked on
the 4th of March. Suddenly something happened. We weren’t a team
trying to do flashy things anymore. We were Mourinho’s Chelsea once again. It was Interim Manager Roberto Di Matteo who brought Chelsea back in form. With Eddie Newton & Steve Holland by his side, he managed to turn Chelsea’s poorest season under Abramovich – into probably the best ever.
How did we do that? By doing what Abramovich didn’t want – we played the Chelsea way. No more high backlines for Chelsea. We were back, baby! We ended up winning the FA Cup as well as the Champions League, with our Interim Manager.
Now the
future must be decided, what now? Well, first of all Di Matteo & Newton
might be gone, second of all Kalou, Malouda, Bosingwa & Drogba are on their
way out of Chelsea territory. As a reaction we’ve brought in Marko Marin, and
it looks like Eden Hazard & Hulk are also on their way.
However, this doesn’t bode well for the Blues. Sure, they’re great players – but, are they Chelsea players? Can they defend? Hazard is a big question mark on defence – according to his former national coach. Marko Marin isn’t really a guy I know a lot about – but, I think we can agree that he isn’t the next John Terry. A guy like Juan Mata should be expected. Then we have Hulk. This is the guy that makes most sense, in my opinion. Even though he isn’t tall, he’s strong – and it’s really hard to steal the ball away from him – this guy is good, but, he’s no Drogba.
However, this doesn’t bode well for the Blues. Sure, they’re great players – but, are they Chelsea players? Can they defend? Hazard is a big question mark on defence – according to his former national coach. Marko Marin isn’t really a guy I know a lot about – but, I think we can agree that he isn’t the next John Terry. A guy like Juan Mata should be expected. Then we have Hulk. This is the guy that makes most sense, in my opinion. Even though he isn’t tall, he’s strong – and it’s really hard to steal the ball away from him – this guy is good, but, he’s no Drogba.
My biggest concern is the coaching job. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have a guy with multiple Champions League wins with him, but, I don’t really think Pep Guardiola is the right fit. Chelsea’s an English team, they should be strong and physical – not small and mainly offensive. The Premier League is changing, but not fast enough. I don’t think Chelsea will be able to become a great team in the following year, if we continue to search for a high-standing backline. We need to be careful, or else Guardiola & Abramovich will have problems in the following year.
I hope I’m wrong, I really do – because if Guardiola works, then I’d be overjoyed.
However, I’d still go with Di Matteo and thus the old Chelsea. That’s what we’ve all grown to know and love, ever since The Special One made us roar at Stamford Bridge.
