Roberto Di Matteo has ingredients for Chelsea success but the test is finding the perfect mix

 
Simon Johnson17 August 2012

After guiding a club to the Champions League for the first time in their history, most managers would begin the next season under no pressure.

Just three months ago, Roberto Di Matteo succeeded where his more respected predecessors had failed by delivering football’s biggest prize, as well as the FA Cup, to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

The club went from being in disarray when he took over following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas in March to the greatest campaign in their history in the space of 11 weeks.

Yet despite the remarkable nature of those triumphs, Di Matteo starts this season at Wigan on Sunday with a tougher job than the one he ­inherited.

In many ways, after being appointed interim first-team coach following the departure of Villas-Boas, he had little to lose.

If Chelsea had continued their poor form which had led the former Porto boss to be sacked, Di Matteo would have avoided most of the blame because fans would have accepted the damage had already been done. That is no longer the case.

Given the precarious nature of Chelsea’s position at the time — they were outside the top four in the League, trailing 3-1 against Napoli after the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie and facing a fifth-round FA Cup replay at Birmingham — there were also few demands made on the team’s style of play.

Di Matteo understandably opted for tactics that worked well in previous seasons, with the talismanic Didier Drogba bullying opposition defences and a preference for caution rather than entertainment.

However, Abramovich is a hard man to please and even delivering the ­trophy he craved most wasn’t enough to totally convince the Russian of Di Matteo’s abilities.

The fact it took nearly a month after the Champions League success for the former Italy international to be named as a permanent replacement for Villas-Boas spoke volumes and now he must somehow raise the bar on what he achieved. For not only is he expected to win more silverware and bridge the 25-point gap to the Manchester clubs that last season’s final League table displayed, Chelsea have to excite as well.

The signings of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Marko Marin, with more players set to arrive before the end of the transfer window, are certainly geared towards playing with more of a swagger, like Barcelona. As Drogba has departed for China, Fernando Torres is the undisputed first-choice striker and Di Matteo must get the Spaniard, who has struggled since joining from Liverpool in January last year, to finally deliver in a blue shirt. At least Torres was on the scoresheet in the Community Shield.

Results in pre-season have not been encouraging as four consecutive defeats and no clean sheets show. The nature of their defeat against champions Manchester City at Villa Park last week appeared to expose the gulf in both teams’ development. Roberto Mancini’s men looked comfortable with each other and the system, while Chelsea’s play was a confused mixture of the past and the future.

With the shadow of former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who is on a one-year sabbatical, lurking in the wings as a potential replacement, Di Matteo knows he can ill afford any mistakes.

The Italian certainly has the full backing of the supporters and is confident that he can rise to the challenge but, as always at Stamford Bridge, ­Abramovich’s opinion is the only one that matters and it will not take much for him to decide that Di Matteo’s honeymoon period in charge of the club to be over.

Chelsea’s summer transfer swoops

Eden Hazard: £32m from Lille

Chelsea’s marquee signing of the summer is expected to provide flair from left midfield or in the No10 role. Made a big impact in French football but will have to prove he can cope with the physical nature of the Premier League.

Oscar: £25m from Internacional

Looked a class act in Brazil’s team at the Olympics but his international involvement means he has yet to train with his new club. That could mean he will take time to settle but his ability on the ball could add real invention from midfield or on the right-hand side.

Marko Marin: £7m from Werder Bremen

The 23-year-old has the kind of pace that has been lacking from Chelsea’s wingers in recent seasons and he can play on either flank. He will need to show a bit more variety in his dribbling skills if he is to become a regular in the first team.

Thorgan Hazard £2.5m from Lens

The younger brother of Eden has been bought for his potential rather than as the finished article. Tipped by his elder sibling to become a better player of the two, Thorgan can play on the wing or as an attacking midfielder.

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