After the capitulation in Napoli a couple of weeks ago that was one of the last nails in the coffin of Andre Villas-Boas' short reign at Chelsea, the presumably safe and smart money would have been put on Napoli seeing the return at Stamford Bridge out as they booked their passage into the deeper stages of Europe's most prestigious club competition. It was all so clear cut for Napoli and their embarrasing wealth of attacking flair, but as things go so often in this game we all can't get enough of, the script was to be thrown out the window as if it had never been written in the first place.
Chelsea's feverish performance from the outset was one that hearkened back to the days Chelsea being almost indomitable at home, and if one didn't know any better, one might have believed that some of Chelsea's old boys, who have drawn some fairly deserved criticism for issues on the field while also being the subjects of rumors about a dressing room mutiny of sorts, were suddenly back to being their 2007 selves. Seeing the likes of Drogba, Terry and Lampard on the same scoresheet must be a sight for the eyes of Chelsea fans who have long grown tired of this season's lifeless outings and very real possibilities of missing out on Champions League qualification altogether for the first time under Roman Abramovich's ownership.
While I had been one to defend Villas-Boas during his ill-fated time at Chelsea, there is no way that I could make light of the impact Roberto Di Matteo has had on this ailing squad during these first few games in charge. The black cloud that had been hanging over the players for the bulk of the season has been magically alleviated, and now it seems that there could indeed be something to be salvaged from a season that had been all but written off. As it is, they are still alive on two fronts (FA Cup as well), and as cups go, anything can happen.
Chelsea would love to be drawn against European darlings APOEL in the next round, but the likelihood of being drawn against one of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Marseille, AC Milan, Real Madrid or Benfica is obviously much greater. However, with the way things are suddenly turning around at Stamford Bridge, maybe whoever lands Chelsea in the next round should be on full alert. This is still a team loaded with talent, and they just might be on the same page now.
If Chelsea is able to progress a bit deeper in Europe, finish in the top four in the Premier League and maybe even win the FA Cup, perhaps Roman Abramovich would be wise to make his next managerial hire after looking no further than his own touchline, for his current caretaker manager has already been able to win at clubs such as MK Dons and West Brom. Turning this season's mess around would surely prove the mettle of any manager that much more.
No comments:
Post a Comment