Chelsea: The name of the game is winning

19^th May again – this date appears to be lucky for Chelsea yet again. Exactly one year ago on this date, Chelsea picked up the Champions League – the biggest prize in club football. And today, in another crucial clash, Chelsea secured direct qualification for the Champions League next year, by defeating Everton 2-1 in a heart-stopping game. Mata and Torres led the way with quality strikes, just when Chelsea needed them most. However, we cannot underestimate the quality of saves from Petr Cech, the best goalkeeper in the world when he is on top form.

What a week it has been for Chelsea football club. Last Saturday, on 12^th May, Frank Lampard conquered the long-standing record of Bobby Tambling, and became the highest goal scorer in the history of Chelsea. In midweek, Chelsea secured another major European trophy by winning the Europa League. And now this landmark achievement of qualifying for the Champions League, despite all adversities. Another interesting factor is about the fate of coaches. On one side, Chelsea is ready to bid farewell to Benitez (who has done a commendable job), and on the other hand, Everton bid farewell to Moyes, who has been a warrior for 11 years. The incumbent Manchester United coach, Moyes, has already witnessed how difficult it would be to conquer their arch-rivals Chelsea. It appears that the millions of Chelsea fans are able to communicate with god on very good terms, as god has also given them their wish by making sure that Lampard stays for another year.

I personally believe had the same been the fate of Drogba, Chelsea would have been sailing along a triumphant boat with many more trophies. Overall, Chelsea has again shown compactness and integrity in their performances.

Though, on any given scale, winning two prestigious trophies last year (Champions League & FA Cup) was a great achievement, they ended up 6^th in the league and went out in early stages of other competitions. However, the overall contribution of Di Matteo will never be forgotten. Although this year they have won just the Europa League, they also reached semis of FA Cup and League Cup, along with reaching finals of Club World Cup. But securing 3^rd place in the league was one of the biggest achievements.

Although in one of the matches against Manchester United in EPL, Chelsea had appeared to fall prey to a number of controversial decisions such as red cards and offside goals. However, they did not lie down and the expedition went on.

Many experts believe that a frequent change of guard, i.e. changing coaches regularly, has badly affected the performance of the club. But in my opinion, this is one of the reasons why they have won so much. However, making changes too frequently is not a long term solution.

So, now on to the ongoing coach Benitez, who joined mid-season and initially he wasn’t able to deliver. But as the season went on, he improved the squad’s consistency remarkably, resulting in today’s achievement. He rotated the players well, and most of the times he succeeded in getting the best out of them. Often he made changes as per the opposition. Chelsea went through a very tiresome season, playing 69 matches under intense pressure (meaning two games every week!), but still they have achieved remarkable heights.