Chelsea 2.0 - Shorter,Faster,Better

Since Abrahmovich’s take over, Chelsea football club’s fortunes changed forever. Bankrolled by the Russian billionaire’s money, they went on from being a mediocre team to become one of the best clubs, not only in England, but also Europe. They have owed much of the success obtained to a certain Jose Mourinho. The self proclaimed ‘Special One’ transformed Chelsea into a ruthless, efficient machine. They were physical, solid at the back and often resorted to long balls to the Ivorian powerhouse Drogba, a style which won them many trophies but not many admirers. Mourinho’s coaching philosophy seemed to tell them, “The world hates you, go prove them wrong”. They were winning ugly and that was unacceptable to the owner who wanted his team to play beautiful football and was one of the important reasons for his sacking..

What followed was a plethora of world renowned coaches like Scolari, Ancelotti, Hiddink etc, who kept the core group of players like Drogba, Cech, Lampard, Terry intact and kept playing the Mourinho’s way, which led to their inevitable departure. Andre Villas Boas was hired last year to complete ‘The Project’ but went about changing too much too soon, losing the confidence of the players in process and by the time he left, Chelsea were in disarray on brink of elimination in Champion’s league and 5th in EPL.

But then came Roberto di Matteo. He didn’t have any pressure as he was not expected to be in charge next season. His first task was to overturn a 3-1 first leg deficit against Napoli, which they did in style at Stamford Bridge. And well, the rest, as they say, is history. Miraculously beating Barcelona and Bayern Munich, the Italian finally delivered the Champions league to the Russian. But it was also achieved by employing ultra negative tactics and the same core group of players who were part of Mourinho’s squad. So even after the FA cup and Champions league double, RDM was made to wait for a month to be offered the job on permanent basis for just 2 years.

So, in many ways, this year was supposed to be even tougher for Di Matteo. He has to rebuild an aging squad and cope with the loss of talismanic striker Drogba. He was given a war chest to fund the transfers and spent 80 millions on acquiring the services of Hazard, Marin, Oscar and Moses. The common thing about all these signings is that they are young, talented, attacking and depend on skills rather than physicality. So, the plan was clear – to get all these young talents along with Mata working behind Torres, creating many chances for the striker with the mentality of an attacking team. But that’s easier said than done. The first problem was to get the misfiring Torres to score again and second to get results while revamping the team as the new signings adapted themselves in the EPL.

If the first three matches in EPL are anything to go by, he is going about this job in a very positive way. Having been appointed the main man, Torres is finally looking like the player for whom Chelsea spent 50 millions, scoring 3 goals already this season. Hazard has been a revelation, scoring a goal and having had a hand in all but one of Chelsea’s goals. He has taken to the premier league like a fish to water. The link up play between him and Juan Mata has been nothing short of exceptional. They have been interchanging positions at will and causing havoc for the opposition defences. Oscar, in two short cameos, has exchanged some delightful passes and looked at ease playing with these two. They are still in a rebuilding phase and the game against Reading showed vulnerabilities at the back but they have been a joy to watch going forward. Only time will tell if RDM is really able to get Chelsea out of Mourinho’s shadow and play a beautiful game as the owner wants, but he is certainly going in the right direction. Meanwhile, I would just say it’s a good time to be a Chelsea fan and enjoy Chelsea 2.0 – shorter, faster, better.