Soccerphile Editorial - May 2012
What now for Chelsea FC?
What now for Chelsea FC? Formed in 1905, it took fifty years for the Blues to win their first English league title. But now that billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has the trophy he really wanted - a coveted UEFA Champions League crown - where does the Russian oligarch go from here?
He won't be resting on his laurels if Chelsea's recent squad movements are anything to go by. No sooner had Didier Drogba tucked away the winning penalty in the Champions League shoot-out win over Bayern Munich than the Ivory Coast international revealed he was leaving the Blues. Drogba is one of Chelsea's all-time leading scorers and netted the winner in Chelsea's FA Cup win over Liverpool at Wembley just a fortnight before scoring the equaliser and subsequent winning penalty against Bayern. But with little room for sentiment at Stamford Bridge, the bulldozing striker looks likely end the twilight of his career at Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua.
Coming in the other direction are a couple of wunderkinds of European football. Marko Marin has long been touted as German football's next big thing, although his star has largely been eclipsed by the arrival on the scene of prodigiously talented Borussia Dortmund duo Marco Reus and Mario Götze. Former Mönchengladbach and Werder Bremen star Marin will hope his impending move to west London rekindles an international career which has stalled since a poor World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
Plenty is also expected of Belgian youngster Eden Hazard. Chased by a multitude of European giants, the 21-year-old attacking talent arrives from French club Lille fresh from winning back-to-back Ligue 1 Player of the Year awards. Described as one of the most exciting talents in Europe, Hazard is expected the complement the creative skills of Spanish talisman Juan Mata. News of his imminent arrival has been greeted by a cool reception from fans in England - with Hazard's motives and temperament already being questioned - however the Blues will be delighted they've beaten several rivals in the race for his signature.
The high-profile recruits have taken some of the focus off Chelsea's coaching conundrum after Portuguese manager Andre Villas-Boas was dismissed midway through last season. Viewed by many as the next Jose Mourinho, the 34-year-old was sacked just nine months into his reign after several senior players questioned his tactics in front of Abramovich.
Former Chelsea player and later assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo was chosen to fill the void and promptly guided the Blues to an FA Cup and Champions League double. And after steering the Blues to their first ever Champions League crown, Abramovich is now faced with the difficult question of whether to retain Di Matteo's services or yet again seek out a high-profile candidate for the coaching role.
Abramovich's haphazard approach to hiring and firing coaches - excluding caretaker Ray Wilkins who was only in charge for one game, the Blues are now on to their eighth coach of the Abramovich era - says much about the Russian's desperate desire to turn the west London club into a European powerhouse. A Champions League trophy suggests he's largely done that, yet it's hard to escape the feeling Chelsea have barged their way into upper echelons of European football as mere members of the nouveau riche. Abramovich's billions may have bought the Blues success but they remain a largely unloved club outside of their particular pocket of west London.
That might be why Chelsea are keen to 'push the brand' internationally, with the Blues set to take on Paris Saint Germain in New York over the summer. The Parisians have themselves recently been taken over by a consortium of Qatari investors and former Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti now calls the Parc des Princes home. He'll have little sympathy for Abramovich after he summarily dispatched the Italian in May 2011 for failing to win the Premier League and Ancelotti's compatriot Di Matteo is under no illusion of just how much pressure there is to succeed in the Chelsea hotseat.
Di Matteo knows Chelsea better than most. He was, after all, responsible for one of the club's most famous goals - the opener in the 1997 FA Cup Final against Middlesbrough which he scored after just 42 seconds. His frenzied celebrations highlighted just how much an FA Cup win meant to the Blues. But times have changed at Stamford Bridge and it's a new stratum of success owner Abramovich craves. He has his Champions League trophy, but the question is 'what now' for one of Europe's richest and most erratic clubs?
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