How is Roberto Di Matteo faring so far on the Chelsea hot-seat?

I have to admit, at the start of the season I was a doubter of our recently appointed Italian manager, mainly because of his team selections in the first few games; the whole “square pegs, round holes” scenario. But full credit where credit is due, our Champions League and FA Cup winning manager saw what was going wrong and changed the starting line-up accordingly!

He is very good at dealing with the players, as we have heard very little from those who have not been regulars, unlike last season when they were speaking freely to the press and rocking AVB’s boat. He seems to have them on his side, and we all know that he is a top man-manager, given the performances he got out of our ageing squad last season! It was an extraordinary feat to say the least.

Not only does he have the players on his side, but he also seems to also have the press with his as well, and he knows how to deal with the media perfectly. His interviews are handled far better than AVB’s were last season, and he approaches awkward questions about John Terry, Ashley Cole and the sort calmly, diffusing the situation instead of adding fuel to the fire.

As I said, there were definitely a few problems with Roberto’s team selections at the start of the season. Firstly, we seemed to lack dynamism, energy, pace and urgency in the engine room; that was solved by removing Lampard from that position and replacing him with Ramires. This change seemed to revitalise our midfield to no end.

The Mikel – Ramires partnership is definitely blossoming, and I have to say I love the new Mikel under RDM. The Italian’s influence seems to have galvanized our holding midfield man, as he seems more confident on the ball, and is making more forward passes, even dribbling past opponents on occasion. He often muscles out and dominates forwards, breaks up play and starts off attacking moves. In my opinion, he is the unsung hero of Chelsea at the moment, and this is coming from a former Mikel doubter. I know not everyone will agree because John Obi is the “Marmite” of Chelsea Football Club, but he has impressed me so far.

The next problem we had was that we were living in the past glories of the Champions League final, and deployed defensive “wingers” instead of our array of attacking talent at the start of the season. Ramires and Bertrand can do a job on the flanks if we are trying to hold out a game; however they are far from natural players in those positions and should only be used to defend a lead or to nullify a particularly dangerous player, like Ribery or Robben for example.

RDM seemed to take a lot out of the QPR draw, which has been our only slip-up in the league so far this season. He noticed that using the defensive “wingers” Bertrand and Ramires (playing out of their natural positions) wasn’t working as it was disrupting our attacking movement in the final third. He therefore took the bold decision to play an attacking midfield trio of Eden Hazard, Juan Mata and Oscar. I didn’t think this would work initially, as I thought the formation would lack balance, and needed more natural width from someone like Moses, but I was proved wrong again, to the full credit of our manager. The attacking midfield trio seem to already be creating a telepathic link with each other, and are almost impossible to man-mark.

Now we come inevitably to the loss at Shaktar on Tuesday evening. I honestly don’t think this should be looked too much into, as it was just a bad day against opposition at the top of their game. Unbeaten in 11 months is no mean feat for any team, along with the fact that they have never lost to an English team at home added up to the simple reality that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park even if we had managed to play to the best of our abilities. We simply seemed disjointed, and lacked cohesion in our passing and moving. The whole game plan was ruined within the first few minutes by the sloppy defending that led to the first goal, but I don’t think it is too much to worry about. However it does increase the importance of getting a win at the Bridge in the return match against Shakthar.

When I saw the line-up at the start of the match, it looked like we were going to play a 4-3-2-1. I thought it was an ingenious move by RDM, as we could incorporate Lampard in his preferred position, whilst keeping our energy (Ramires) and steel (Mikel) in midfield and also have two free-roaming number 10’s behind the striker to move around the pitch as they please and create things. I have to say that I would love this system to be implemented as a plan B, if we need more experience in the side or we know that the opposition is going to flood out the midfield, as having that extra man in there could really help. It removes the strict defensive responsibilities from Lampard, meaning that he can make his trademark late runs without them negatively affecting the side in a defensive sense.

At the moment, the only big worry is Fernando Torres. He just doesn’t seem at it, and I can’t see him ever hitting the form he once had at Liverpool. He is our main man and he has to be finishing his chances for us to challenge for trophies this season. Obviously, Roberto di Matteo doesn’t have many options at centre forward, at least until January if the Falcao rumours are to be believed. We however have Danny Sturridge waiting in the wings, and I believe that he has looked more dangerous than Fernando Torres in his appearances after recovering from his injury. His goal against the Spurs in the London derby showed that he had the ability to get into good positions, and has that natural killer instinct that Torres sometimes lacks. In the Champions League tie, he set up Hazard’s glorious chance, had the confidence to shoot as soon as he got the opportunity and also set up the chance for our only goal of the game.

At the moment it seems that Sturridge has everything that Torres lacks. The Spaniard is not direct enough when he attacks, is too hesitant, dawdles far too long on the ball, shoots when he should pass, and passes when he should shoot. Granted that Sturridge is a very greedy young player, but sometimes you have to be greedy as a striker, and he has got the ability to back it up.

I just cannot get my head around why our number 9 looks so lost at times in front of goal. He gets a one-on-one opportunity and panics, even though those were the chances he used to thrive on at Liverpool.

Let’s hope that the Torres situation sorts itself out as fast as it can. Roberto di Matteo seems to be dealing with it in the best way he can, and on the basis of his overall performances, is doing a fantastic job. He is learning his trade quickly, dealing with problems as they arise and has both the players and the media on his side!

So what are your thought’s Chelsea fans? How is our Italian manager doing so far?