Rafael Benitez’s Chelsea stuffed Danish side Nordsjaelland 6-1 in the Champions League Wednesday, but with Juventus win at Shakhtar Donetsk, the Blues will not participate in the knockout stages.
The new manager cannot be held accountable for the Blues being unable to defend their European crown; it was only his fourth match in charge at Chelsea, and the first game he’s overseen in the Champions League for almost two years.
Watch match highlights:
Chelsea 6, Nordsjaelland 1 |
Shakhtar Donetsk 0, Juventus 1 |
Bayern Munich 4, BATE Borisov 1 |
Lille 0, Valencia 1 |
Barcelona 0, Benfica 0 |
Celtic 2, Spartak Moscow 1 |
Braga 1, Galatasaray 2 |
Manchester United 0, CFR Cluj 1
Chelsea’s second-half performance at Stamford Bridge was extremely encouraging. Eden Hazard and Juan Mata were superb. Oscar came off the bench and neatly scored the sixth, showing why he’s one of the most exciting young players in world football. Defender Gary Cahill’s superb header showed his attacking threat, something that Chelsea and England will enjoy for years to come.
Still, few would bet against Benitez being booed by the Chelsea away support in Sunderland on Saturday.
It’s the most peculiar managerial appointment we’ve seen in the Premier League for a while, and you could say that it highlights a distinct change in Russian owner Roman Abramovich’s philosophy at the club. Or has he simply just lost it?
When it comes to player recruitment, it seems like Abramovich has matured.
In the earlier years of his reign he seemed drunk on the power he attained as superfluous additions to the squad were common place. It was fantasy football stuff. Scott Parker, Jiri Jarosik, Asier del Horno, and many others were acquired and then disposed of with the regularity of vodka bottles in a downtown Moscow bar.
The way Abramovich splashed the cash in a bid for silverware, with nothing apparent in the way of planning, made the Russian seem a smug-faced poseur. It’s like he thought he could take Chelsea to the top by simply purchasing anyone half-decent.
Annoyingly, it worked. They won the league title – their first in 50 years – in his second year of ownership, but a lot of it was down to the divine intervention of Jose Mourinho and his inspired signings of Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba.
After nearly ten years since he poured his money into Chelsea FC, the thirst Abramovich showed when drinking up all those players has been quelled. The Blues’ first team squad is one of the smallest in the league.
Signings seem well thought out. There seems to be a distinct plan. The eldest player out of the six purchased over the summer was Marko Marin, and he’s just 23. They all carry a threat going forward, and everyone brought in is a promising talent, or already a regular and high-performing starter.
It seems that, in the summer, there was a clear philosophy in place: Chelsea was nurturing players that will bring attractive attacking football to the south-west London club and, surely, plenty of success.
It seems strange then, with all these sensible moves in the transfer market that contrast their heady dealings almost a decade ago, that Abramovich has made an extremely sobering decision in appointing Benitez as manager.
He’s the man who, when in charge at Liverpool, mocked Chelsea’s idea of giving out free flags to their fans. He suggested that the support at Anfield already had passion, and that’s what helps the team win matches – not flags.
He also took a very public dislike to Mourinho. When the Portuguese left Chelsea in 2007, Benitez told reporters it would be better if he kept quiet with regards to his thoughts given their cold relationship.
His appointment, given his lack of popularity amongst the Chelsea support, is inconsiderate to the fans.
But most surprising of all is that he has a completely different tactical approach to the one Abramovich looks, or looked, to instill at the club. Benitez will always first look to his defence, while the manager who is touted to be the favourite to succeed the Spaniard after his interim role is his compatriot Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola’s Barcelona side won many fans with their relentless and attractive play going forward. Surely, if he is hired, building his philosophy on top of Benitez rigid regime, rather than his predecessor Di Matteo’s fluid attacking play will prove more of a challenge?
Does Abramovich want an attacking team or not? It seems like he doesn’t know what he wants.