Could Roberto Di Matteo be Chelsea's manager next season?

Plenty of people were eager to jump onto the proverbial bandwagon, which left shortly after Chelsea thwarted Barcelona at the Camp Nou, and clamour for the permanent appointment of Roberto Di Matteo as Manager of Chelsea Football Club. Even more clambered on when he successfully guided the Blues to the FA Cup title. This is an expected, cursory reaction to a triumph by the caretaker boss, and should be consumed with a pinch of salt. He is a young, novice manager being considered for a role which several of the world’s best and most-experienced have fallen short of fulfilling. But it does beg the question: Why not?

His record, in his admittedly brief stint, so far has been quite good. In fact, it compares more than favourably with supposedly successful former occupants of the Chelsea hot-seat.

Manager	Matches Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %
José Mourinho	185	124	40	21	67%
Avram Grant	54	36	13	5	67%
Luiz Felipe Scolari	36	20	11	5	56%
Guus Hiddink	22	16	5	1	73%
Carlo Ancelotti	109	67	20	22	61%
André Villas-Boas	40	19	11	10	48%
Roberto Di Matteo	18	12	4	2	66.67

One of the factors that can be held against him is in itself the reason as to why he has the job now: His work as assistant to Andre Villas-Boas.

That particular situation has borne two potentially negative manifestations in the media: One is the fact that the players have seen him perform the supporting role, meaning that his authority may not be absolutely accepted by the players. Second, and more importantly, his methods will be viewed as providing a continuity of sorts to the work carried out by AVB, which is what got the Iberian the sack. These are not completely invalid points, but they are more of surface-level assumptions than conclusions borne from analysis. In addition to these points, his previous managerial stints at MK Dons and West Bromwich Albion were far from eye-catching; although to be fair, he did a decent job.

Roberto Di Matteo has the opportunity to mange Chelsea full-time only thanks to his position as assistant to AVB.

With reference to the respect and authority that Di Matteo receives (or doesn’t), it is quite clear already that he enjoys a much better rapport with the players than Andre Villas-Boas ever did. The vast majority of the Chelsea squad are used to supremely successful managers, having taken in spells under the likes of Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti. Add to that list the powerful charisma and motivational skills of Jose Mourinho, and it sets the bar very high indeed, casting shadows over most potential managers of the club. Villas-Boas had no more than one full season under his belt, albeit a hugely successful one. Throw in the age factor, and it was always going to be difficult to win over the powerful Chelsea dressing room. Di Matteo has a less impressive managerial CV, no doubt. But what does count in his favour is his accomplished playing career at Chelsea, where he still remains in the good books of the Chelsea faithful. The playing careers of managers being a factor can be easily dismissed, citing references such as Arsene Wenger, and Jose Mourinho himself. But in the absence of experience and proven pedigree as a manger, that undoubtedly plays a part in the players’ initial assessment of the man-in-charge.

Another reason for his better rapport with the players is evident from the get-go: his man-management. Andre Villas-Boas may well be a tactical genius, but that is only part of a manager’s job. A manager at a top football club like Chelsea has several other functions, including:

• Fostering team-spirit and togetherness. This is Management 101, and the media did not rest in highlighting a perceived lack of unity in the team. It also did not help that most of the proclamations of faith and support for the manager came from the contingent which he supposedly had a better rapport with i.e., the Spanish-speaking players.
• Massaging the egos and confidence of the players, cajoling superior performances out of them. His handling of Fernando Torres‘ extended slump in form couldn’t have helped the forward’s cause. Sure, he did try to give him a run of games, but his comments in the media hardly shielded El Nino, once commenting: “We have been through the Torres situation before with [Andriy] Shevchenko and [Mateja] Kezman”. Both players were unmitigated disasters at the club.
• Ensuring that squad/fringe players are not left out in the cold, allowing players enough opportunities for everyone at the right time, lest they become unhappy. This was quite evident in the cases of Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel, who didn’t seem to have the favour of AVB.

Roberto Di Matteo has fared fairly well on all the above counts. While some of the positive effects of the managerial change could be attributed to “New Manager Syndrome”, the Italian has made a few very evident improvements. First, the morale of several players, most notably Fernando Torres and Ryan Bertrand, have been boosted exponentially, with Torres in particular flourishing and recently bagged a hat-trick against QPR. Second has been his rotation of players which has not only kept his players fresh, and thus able to turn in performances closer to their maximum level, but also helped boost the morale of the squad as a whole.

Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, may prefer a big-name manager he believes would provide superstar billing and simultaneously inject some joie-de-vivre into their style of play. He should probably realize by now that great managers are few and far between, and he’s dismissed his fair share of them as well. Just as important, and more urgent, should be his realization that this Chelsea side was not meant to be one of the world’s most entertaining sides. Their periods of success have come when they have done what they do best: ally their strength and immaculate technique with mental fortitude and a will to win, resulting in ruthlessly efficient and some times impressive performances. Those have been the qualities that forced their opponents to accept defeat, and for now, represent their best hope for success in the immediate future. Attempting to play with high defensive lines and more dynamic formations without a significant overhaul of personnel was always going to be a foolhardy task.

The likelihood remains that Abramovich will plump for a more experienced manager in the summer. Several names have already done the circles in the media, and will no doubt continue to do so until a concrete announcement comes forth from The Blues. If Di Matteo manages the improbable and bags either the Champions League or fourth place in the Premier League, surely he will be a front-runner for the post, and his appointment would go down well with the Chelsea fans. But even if he doesn’t, he as already proven that he seems to be up to the task, which will again force Abramovich to ponder the question I mentioned at the beginning of the article: Why not?