We Ain't Got No History - Chelsea axe Roberto di MatteoChampions of Europe!https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52884/21_SBN_002_We_Aint_Got_No_History_Favicon_32x32..png2012-11-22T15:13:06+00:00http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/rss/stream/34390012012-11-22T15:13:06+00:002012-11-22T15:13:06+00:00Chelsea don't deserve Di Matteo anyway
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<figcaption>David Rogers</figcaption>
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<p>At the end of the day, Roberto Di Matteo deserved better than Chelsea FC.</p> <p>I've slept on this now, and I'm still a bit sick to my stomach over the events of November 21, 2012. Rafa Benitez is our manager, and that will take some getting used to before I stop feeling dirty about that fact. He'll most certainly have an uphill battle to win the support of this fanbase, but it's definitely not an impossible task.</p>
<p>What's more far appalling to me than the decision to hire that man is the way that the club went about it. I could sort of understand the club's reaction to the awful showings against Juventus and West Brom*, but <a href="http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2012/11/22/3677876/rafael-benitez-details-contract" target="_blank">word came out last night that this chain of events was set in motion before either of those games were played</a>. The question that immediately comes to mind in that scenario is why?</p>
<p><i>*I by no means agree with it though</i></p>
<p>We are all familiar with the job Robbie did as an interim manager to earn his two-year contract, but let's look at exactly what he did this season up to the point this decision was made. Overall, Di Matteo's side had played 18 games to the point the decision was made. They had won 11, lost 3, and drawn 4. That's a 61% win percentage, which really doesn't look bad when considering the Champions League group we were drawn into.</p>
<p>The side had dropped points in seven fixtures, and there was only one extended streak of poor performances to look at. The three game stretch of the UEFA Super Cup, QPR, and Juventus in London featured a loss and a pair of draws. This was easily the worst stretch of the season up to the point that this decision was made, and Di Matteo's side responded by winning their next six contests. By no means did Di Matteo's performance in the season's first 18 fixture justify a sacking, yet the board was preparing to do so anyway.</p>
<p>Roberto Di Matteo was not perfect by any stretch. Tactically, he appeared to be struggling a bit to find a balance between attack and defense. To some extent that's understandable, given the fact that we've just done such a massive overhaul of the squad. Still, I'd understand if the club wanted somebody who could fix things immediately. In this capacity as well, I have my doubts about the thought process of the club.</p>
<p>Rafa is known for being extremely organized in this regard, but history shows us it's not a quick transition. Look at Rafa's first season in charge at <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a>, where they were terrible domestically as the squad struggled to adapt to the new style. They'd finish on 58 points, only staying in the Champions League with a great run to win the title. That late season run demonstrates exactly how organized Rafa can be with time, but we are essentially using him as a stop-gap until we can hit the market in the summer. </p>
<p>His first season in Liverpool doesn't appear to be a fluke either. By now, you're all aware of his absolutely dreadful results with Inter. Again, there were good performances peppered in with the awful ones, but finding any level of consistency was something that looked to be a slow process. </p>
<p>I certainly hope Rafa gets rolling early, but again, I have my concerns. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea</a> had their hands tied a bit by making a change in November, but they identified Rafa as a short term fix despite strong evidence that he's likely to take some time to settle the squad into his preferred style. He just seems a very poor choice as an interim hire looking for short-term results, he appears to be more of a big-name brought in to "justify" the decision to go away from Di Matteo. </p>
<p>My biggest issue with this is still the fact that we even started the season with Di Matteo at all. He clearly wasn't an option the club really wanted at this point based on the way they let him go, yet they went through the entire pre-season process with him in charge anyway. When they finally did make the decision to let him go, he had us sitting second in the league, tied for points atop a very difficult Champions League group, and looking like the favorite to win the Capital One Cup. There was nothing sack-worthy about his performance, yet they were preparing for the move anyway. </p>
<p>Di Matteo did a wonderful job as interim manager. Regardless of what anyone thought of him this season, it's impossible to take that away from him. If the club felt (and they clearly did) that he was not the right guy for the job long term, they owed it to him and the fans to to let the man leave on a high note in the summer. Instead, they waited for the first sign of trouble with the axe already hovering, in an attempt to justify parting with a Champions League winning manner. It's disgusting behavior from the board at Chelsea, and it honestly makes me sick to my stomach.</p>
<p>It's a sad day when you realize that the manager of the club you support deserves better than the the club that just sacked him, but in this case, it's very true. Roberto Di Matteo was nothing but class in his time in charge here, and the board of this club walked all over him and waited for the first opportunity they could find to dump him out on the street. It's classless and unsettling, and it just makes me feel dirty. At the moment, Chelsea FC don't deserve a guy like Robarto Di Matteo. At the moment, they deserve Rafa Benitez.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2012/11/22/3679424/the-chelsea-board-should-be-embarrassed-about-their-handling-ofStephen Schmidt2012-11-22T09:57:42+00:002012-11-22T09:57:42+00:00Former Blue to return to be Rafa's assistant
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<figcaption>Mike Hewitt</figcaption>
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<p>According to reports, Former Blue Boudewijn Zenden will be named assistant manager by new interim manager Rafa Benitez. We await confirmation.</p> <p>He may not be the most familiar of faces to Chelsea fans, but Dutch midfielder Boudewijn 'Bolo' Zenden is definitely a former Blue. Unfortunately, his Chelsea career was blighted somewhat by injury, but he still managed to make 58 appearances for us, scoring 4 times. Stamford Bridge will be his first coaching job, having only played his last match at the end of the 2010-11 season. Though he made his name primarily away from the club, snagging a former player, and a pre-Abramovich one at that, is a pretty shrewd move by Benitez.</p>
<p>The Spaniard has been a profoundly-unpopular choice to succeed Roberto di Matteo, a man who, interestingly, appeared alongside Zenden in the 2002 FA Cup final in a ceremonial role. It's been debated whether <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea's</a> manager really matters, and it can safely be said that the assistant matters far less than that. That's not to say he won't be a good assistant. Rafa, after all, clearly trusts him, and with plenty of experience in English football, he should be able to offer something to the club. You could say that his being Dutch is an asset, given the number of Belgians at Chelsea, but only one of them has remained at the club, and he's, you know, a Walloon. Oh well.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2012/11/22/3679172/boudewijn-zenden-chelsea-assistant-manager-rafa-benitez-former-blueKevin Kostka2012-11-21T23:27:48+00:002012-11-21T23:27:48+00:00Hating Rafa Benitez is perfectly acceptable
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<figcaption>Laurence Griffiths</figcaption>
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<p>Chelsea fans are not happy about the appointment of Rafa Benitez as first team manager, and I think that's perfectly acceptable given the circumstances.</p> <p>Today I woke up to the news that Chelsea had fired Roberto Di Matteo. Several hours later I was treated to the disgusting news that we had hired Rafa Benitez. Anybody who has been reading today knows exactly how I feel about this move already, but to sum it up, I don't like it at all. I'm certainly not alone in that regard either, as Chelsea fans everywhere are up in arms over the move. I see many fans arguing that we should back Benitez unconditionally now that he's our manager. I'm not ever going to be one of those fans, and there are several reasons for it.</p>
<p>First and foremost, Rafa Benitez seems to be a thoroughly unlikable human being. I'm sure he's a nice guy when you meet him face to face, but nothing in his past should really endear him to Chelsea fans. He's questioned the "passion" of our fanbase in the past, and that alone puts him in a situation where the fans of this club are already right to dislike him. He wasn't some teenage kid in the spotlight for the first time, he was a seasoned professional who had been dealing with the media for years.</p>
<p>He's also had several incidents with completely nonsensical rants about opposing managers. Where Roberto Di Matteo was all class and composure with the press, we've hired a guy that has gone off before on a five minute rant about the special treatment other managers receive. I dislike the tinfoil hat crowd in general, and we've hired a man who has a history of that type of behavior. Not cool Rafa, not cool at all.</p>
<p>Tactically speaking, I've never been a fan of Benitez either. He's always been a very organized manager, something that the man deserves credit and respect for. He's not very flexible though, and like AVB before him, he tends to try too hard to fit players into roles instead of designing a system to maximize the talent he had available.</p>
<p>This pattern can clearly be seen by looking at his transfer record at <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a>. He was in charge for six seasons, easily long enough to adapt his system to some of his available players. Still, he averaged 13 signings per year as he attempted to find players that fit his system as opposed to adapting his system to fit the available (and talented) players. He will certainly not be in charge of purchasing at Chelsea, but his inability to adapt his system to the talent he has should still be a worrying problem. After all, he's only under contract for a few months, and we'll certainly not be reshaping the entire squad in January.</p>
<p>This problem was still clearly evident when he was in charge at Inter. He took over a side that <span>Jose Mourinho</span> had looking like the best in the world, and turned them into a midtable side in a very mediocre Serie A. He did this in a matter of months. What was most disturbing about it was his insistence on playing the same 4-2-3-1 he always does, despite the fact that his personnel were seemingly very poorly suited for it. Again with Benitez, the system was put in place without consideration of the players, and his very public insistence on a massive January overhaul was the main reason he was sacked only months into his reign..</p>
<p>There is also the question of his resume, and his qualification for this job. The official Chelsea website has laid out <a href="http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/2987567/title/benitez-in-profile" target="_blank">a glowing read</a> about his past, but frankly it's a lot of fluff. He did some fantastic things in Spain around the turn of the century, but there haven't been a lot of notable achievements since landing at Liverpool. Yes, Benitez guided the team to an FA Cup and Champions League in his six seasons in charge. The man he's replacing won Chelsea the same two trophies in about ten weeks at the helm.</p>
<p>Benitez didn't have the spending power that <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea's</a> managers had, but he still managed to spend £226 million in his time at the helm. That's enough money that he should have manged more than a single season where they legitimately challenged for a domestic title, especially given that he inherited a squad with several core players already in place. He didn't though, finishing with under 70 points in half of his seasons in charge (and twice finishing outside of the top four).</p>
<p>I don't want to say I can't grow to respect Rafa Benitez, but that is certainly a respect that the Spaniard is going to have to earn. His history shows that he's exactly the wrong type of manager for the problems currently facing Chelsea, and the only thing that will make me believe he's learned from that past is showing me something new. Coupled with his past comments about Chelsea's fanbase and conspiracies, it's certainly something that won't come quickly. </p>
<p>Rafa is sure to get a less than warm and fuzzy welcome on Sunday, and that's perfectly ok with me. He's earned it with his comments in the past, and he hasn't done enough in his past two jobs for his performance to overshadow his personality. Chelsea fans have every right to be upset about the way this situation was handled, and I don't think there is a single one of us who doesn't think Benitez was stumping around for this job behind the scenes while Di Matteo was still in charge.</p>
<p>If he wants my advice, it would be this...Suck it up and take the lumps you've earned when commenting on Chelsea fans, and understand that respect is earned and not given. Adapt your system to the talented players that Chelsea already have, as all but a handful of them are certain to be here far longer than you otherwise. Don't make noise about needing to buy more players in January, because Chelsea have never been shy about spending money anyway. And win. Win a lot. Win more than Guus. I can't stress that part strongly enough, as winning is probably the best way to make Chelsea fans forget your hiring. Do these things, and I might even grow to like you. I doubt it, but stranger things have happened.</p>
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https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2012/11/21/3677414/chelsea-fc-fans-hating-rafa-benitez-perfectly-acceptableStephen Schmidt2012-11-21T22:38:17+00:002012-11-21T22:38:17+00:00Di Matteo leaves with his head held high
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<figcaption>I probably won't get many more excuses to post pictures of the world's tiniest cup | Matthew Lewis</figcaption>
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<p>Roberto di Matteo has never been one for angry words, and his statement after being sacked by a club for which he holds "a deep and unreserved passion" reflected his personality: Calm, composed and deeply likable. This is a sad day. </p> <p>Roberto di Matteo might be gone, but it's safe to say he won't ever be forgotten amongst Chelsea fans. Although his accomplishments as both a player and a manager were impressive, his effortless grace and utter serenity under pressure distinguished him still further, and both were displayed in full today:</p>
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<p>It was an honour for me to be appointed manager of a club that I loved playing for and one that is so close to my heart. I am extremely proud of the successes and trophies that we were able to bring to the club in recent months.</p>
<p>Lifting <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea's</a> first Champions League trophy, in Munich, was the best achievement in club history and without doubt the highlight of my career to date, both as a player and manager. It is a memory I will treasure for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>I have a deep and unreserved passion for Chelsea Football Club and I would like to sincerely thank all of the staff, my players and of course the Chelsea fans, for their tremendous and unconditioned support in the intense time I have been the manager at the Bridge. I wish all of them every success for the rest of the season and beyond.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">-Roberto di Matteo. Source: <a href="http://www.leaguemanagers.com/news/viewfromthetop-7099.html" target="_blank">LMA</a>.</p>
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<p>Honestly, it's difficult to read that without flashing back to May 19th, one of the few times the man let his unreserved passion for the club boil to the surface. "I won it," he cried at Roman Abramovich. It was Chelsea's finest hour. Today was some distance from fine, but di Matteo demonstrated his incredible reserves of quiet dignity despite being utterly failed by a club which was only to happy to celebrate his achievements while scheming to dispose of him.</p>
<p>Thank you for everything Robbie. I'm glad you know just how much you mean to the fans.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2012/11/21/3677448/roberto-di-matteo-sackedGraham MacAree2012-11-21T19:41:54+00:002012-11-21T19:41:54+00:00Chelsea confirm Benitez as manager
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<figcaption>Dean Mouhtaropoulos</figcaption>
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<p>It's official. This sucks.</p> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/2987554/title/benitez-appointed">Chelsea FC have confirmed the hiring of Rafa Benitez</a> to replace Roberto Di Matteo as manager. It's sure to ba a wildly unpopular move with the fans, and it's already provoking strong, negative response throughout the fanbase. Sunday against the league leaders ought to be fun, no?</p>
<p>Benitez will be joining until the end of the season, although we all know that this means absolutely nothing in terms of how long he'll actually be at the club. Personally, I really hope that this is simply a temporary move, waiting for a better candidate for a long term role to become available over the summer.</p>
<p>I can't state how strongly against this move I am. We went from an extremely likable manager with experience questions to an extremely unlikable manager with major question marks about his ability. This isn't a good move in my opinion, but the silver lining is that <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea</a> have never been slow to fire anyone in the past, and the fanbase already hates this clown. The worst part of all of this? We're almost certainly now going to be subjected to another extended spell of <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110873/fernando-torres" class="sbn-auto-link">Fernando Torres</a> at center forward. I hate today.</p>
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https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2012/11/21/3676626/chelsea-confirm-benitez-as-managerStephen Schmidt2012-11-21T19:32:06+00:002012-11-21T19:32:06+00:00SSN: Rafa Benitez to sign with Chelsea
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<figcaption>Vittorio Zunino Celotto</figcaption>
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<p>Reports are circulating that Rafa Benitez will succeed Roberto Di Matteo as manager at Chelsea.</p> <p>Well, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/statuses/271333157805105152">it's all but official</a>. Rafa Benitez will be succeeding Robeto Di Matteo as the manger of <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea</a> FC, having reportedly agreed to an 18-month deal to join the London club. Di Matteo was a popular figure with the fans, having been a successful player for the club before guiding them to their first ever Champions League title. Rafa Benitez is generally hated by Chelsea fans, as he's generally been noted as a massive jerk* despite having been fairly successful at several previous stops.</p>
<p><i>*Not the word I'd have liked to use there</i></p>
<p>Benitez is a control freak who has been difficult for players to get along with in the past, so he's far more of a return to the ways of AVB in that regard than what we were used to with Di Matteo. Potential for on pitch improvement aside, I don't think I'm alone in thoroughly hating this move.</p>
<p>I'm actually quite excited to see the reaction to this move when Chelsea take the pitch on Sunday, as I'm sure it won't be a friendly greeting from the fans at Stamford Bridge. Oh well, at least history tells us that he'll be getting the sack in short order.</p>
<p><i>Update: It appears it's only until the end of the season</i></p>
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https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2012/11/21/3676546/chelsea-rafa-benitez-managerStephen Schmidt2012-11-21T16:32:41+00:002012-11-21T16:32:41+00:00What would Rafael Benitez bring to Chelsea?
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<figcaption>Laurence Griffiths</figcaption>
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<p>To say Rafael Benitez is not well-liked by Chelsea supporters would be something of an understatement. Hating the man is something of a tradition at Stamford Bridge, and the reaction if it turns out the board had sacked a genuine Chelsea hero in Roberto di Matteo only to replace him with a 'fat Spanish waiter*' would be somewhere between mutiny and all-out thermonuclear warfare.</p>
<p><i>*He'd join the blond Spanish w**ker at Cobham.</i></p>
<p><i>**Walker.</i></p>
<p>That said, the vitriol directed at Benitez shouldn't prevent us from trying to objectively analyse the man on his own merits. He's seen success at both <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a> and Valencia before crashing and burning at Inter Milan (much to our collective amusement), so there's presumably <i>some</i> managerial talent in there, and if he does end up as interim Chelsea manager we should try to have some idea of what we're in for. Apart from the streets running red with blood, etc.</p>
<p>So I put on my 'I'm trying not to hate everything' hat and talked shop with some Liverpool fans to try to get a feel for what he's is all about. First up was one of my favourite tactical experts and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/lankyguyblog" target="_blank">a must-follow on Twitter</a>, Jonny of <a target="_blank" href="http://lankyguyblog.blogspot.com/">lankyguyblog</a> fame. He's been watching Benitez for years, and has been hugely impressed by his tactical acumen:</p>
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<p>Benitez idolises Sacchi and his legendary Milan side of the late 80s, early 90s. His main ideas are to have control of the space, to stay compact, both vertically and horizontally, to press aggressively as a unit and to try and pass the ball on the ground yet move it quickly. If you were looking at a team at the moment that plays like he wants to play, it would be Borussia Dortmund - the movements both defensively and in possession are very similar to what he used at Liverpool.</p>
<p>Benitez does not want robots on the pitch but he wants a tactically aware group who know what to do in every given situation and who keep up their intensity regardless of the situation during the game. It's well known that he likes the 4-2-3-1 shape because of the balance it brings and how it can switch to 4-4-2 or 4-2-4 in attacking positions. His Valencia side dominated La Liga because they moved the ball quickly along the ground but also had great intensity and consistency to their play and were too well organised to break down.</p>
<p>At Liverpool he didn't have the tactical balance in the squad at the start but he built it up while being consistently successful in Europe. The season they came second (2008/09) despite having poor depth in the squad was again a great example of how he wants to play - a high line, full backs going forward, two holding players to act as reference points, to shut off space between the lines and also to entice the opposition's midfield to press, leaving space for the front four to provide width and depth and take advantage with quick movements, especially between the lines.</p>
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<p>And for another view, I had a chat with Noel of <a href="http://liverpool.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Liverpool Offside</a>, mostly focusing on his management skills and general fit with Chelsea.</p>
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<p><a target="new" href="http://liverpool.theoffside.com"><img style="float:right;margin:0px 0px 6px 12px;width:100px" src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/blog/sbnu_logo_minimal/373/large_liverpool.theoffside.com.minimal.png"></a><i><b>Graham:</b> Soooo. Tell me about Rafael Benitez.</i></p>
<p><b>Noel:</b> Benitez would be a poor fit at Chelsea, but then any manager who isn't Jose Mourinho is going to be a poor fit who's destined to be sacked after six months no matter what he might achieve in the interim. Still, Benitez does have one thing in common with the former Chelsea manager, at least-they're both control freaks who would be in charge of every aspect of the club down demanding the cleaners wipe the bathroom mirrors in a counter-clockwise motion.</p>
<p>In fact, about the only possible explanation for why he'd end up in the Chelsea job would be if Abramovich is unwilling to take a £50M hit on Fernando Torres-and let's face it, Chelsea would be lucky to make back his wages to date if they sold him on-but the reality is that there's very little of the old Torres left to salvage at this point.</p>
<p>He also seems to have that in common with Abramovich, which is part of why it would seem destined to end in another sacking should he actually end up being hired, especially given there's reason to think he would receive less support than any post-Mourinho manager to date has from the Chelsea fans.</p>
<p><i><b>Graham:</b> How's his man-management? I haven't heard good things.</i></p>
<p><b>Noel:</b> Torres will obviously love him, as will many of the younger, more technical players. He can be a very standoffish manager, though, and one of the biggest criticisms of him at Liverpool was always that he wouldn't put his hand 'round the shoulder and be a man manager. At times he can manage the players almost as though he expects them to be emotionless robots, and as was the case with him alienating some of the English players at Liverpool over his tenure, I expect the Chelsea old guard would quickly find a way to make themselves relevant again.</p>
<p>And by relevant again I mean start leaking stories to their friends in the press about what a zonal marking foreign monster Benitez is.</p>
<p><i><b>Graham:</b> So in that aspect he's like an <span>Andre Villas-Boas</span> that Chelsea fans already hate.</i></p>
<p><b>Noel:</b> Yes. But he does have a far better résumé, and he worked miracles at Liverpool given the limitations he was working under. Still, if he were to be hired it rather seems inevitable it wouldn't end well.</p>
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<p>In essence -- a very good (if rather dour) tactician who struggles to motivate players who need coddling. While Benitez might sort out <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea's</a> on-field problems for a while, it seems unlikely that, if appointed, he'd be around for the long term. And that's even without taking the very real dislike that most associated with the club have for him. Change his name to, I don't know, Unai Emery or something, and he might very well be an appropriate interim (but probably not long-term) manager for this club.</p>
<p>But even without the emotion*, it doesn't look like much good would come out of Benitez's appointment. Chelsea's main goal this season must be to reestablish themselves in the top three of the Premier League, but that status currently looks fairly nailed-on, despite the recent form. And advancement in the Champions League is more up to Shakhtar Donetsk than the Blues at the moment. Firing di Matteo only to throw an interim manager onto the scene doesn't actually solve any problems.</p>
<p><i>*Or the Torres question, because I don't want to think about it.</i></p>
<p>And when you add the emotion back into the equation and remember that said interim manager might be Rafael Benitez, whose tenure at Inter Milan was a catastrophe of epic proportions... it's very difficult to understand why the board would go down this path.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2012/11/21/3675406/rafael-benitez-manager-profileGraham MacAree2012-11-21T13:01:03+00:002012-11-21T13:01:03+00:00The cynics were right all along
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8bkZ76JJVxfzYYqhxsTozVPLgDg=/0x13:939x639/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/3667597/gyi0064743410.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Michael Regan</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Roberto di Matteo did virtually everything he could to demonstrate that he was the right man to lead Chelsea. Unfortunately, none of his accomplishments convinced the board that his place at the helm was anything more than an accident.</p> <p>You can see most things coming from miles away, even in football. And we should have seen this too. The media were starting to push the line of there being serious pressure on Roberto di Matteo, but absolutely zero sensible football analysts, in <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chelsea</a> circles or elsewhere, thought that this was particularly likely. One 3-0 embarrassment in Turin later, and the Italian's gotten the boot.</p>
<p>One the one hand, this is utterly, utterly bizarre. Di Matteo led the team to its first ever Champions League win barely six months ago, having beaten <a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Liverpool</a> in the FA Cup final before that. And now he's been unceremoniously discarded after a few weeks of poor form -- in <a target="_blank" href="http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/2986865/title/statement-on-roberto-di-matteo">the club statement announcing his release</a>, Chelsea allotted a grand total of 61 words to his historic achievements in the short time since <span>Andre Villas-Boas</span> got the sack:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The owner and the Board would like to thank Roberto for all he has done for the club since taking over in March. Roberto helped guide us to an historic Champions League victory and a seventh FA Cup. We will never forget the huge contribution he has made to this club's history and he will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some time ago, I remember being asked about what I thought of the idea of Gianfranco Zola coming in as Chelsea manager. He's too much of a legend, I replied. Eventually it would go wrong and seeing my boyhood idol sacked would hurt too much for it to be anything near worth it to bring him home.</p>
<p>And so it is with di Matteo, albeit to a lesser extent. This isn't some mercenary manager -- an Andre Villas-Boas or a Guus Hiddink or even a Carlo Ancelotti. This was Roberto di Matteo, hero of Wembley. The Swiss-born Italian played 119 times for us before his career was cut short by injury, and although he wasn't the iconic figure that Zola was, he was very much part of the fabric of the club.</p>
<p>I don't see a way this will ever not hurt to look back on. We're used to firing managers, and we did pretty well by it last time. But we've not ever done this to someone who was embedded within the soul of the club itself. Di Matteo was one of us. That he'd won two major trophies -- including <i>the</i> major trophy -- during his short time at Stamford Bridge was delicious icing on an already beloved cake.</p>
<p>And now he's out. I won't pretend as though I didn't see grave tactical problems with di Matteo's side: His teams have never struck the correct chord between attack and defence, despite having the personnel to pull off both. But he was also put in a bizarre position by the club's actions over the summer.</p>
<p>First, there was the extended chase of <span>Pep Guardiola</span>, leaving di Matteo in the dark weeks after he'd pulled off the finest result in the club's history. Eventually, the interim manager was appointed on a permanent basis, but even then it was clear that he was second best. Then came the curious neglect of two key positions in the transfer window.</p>
<p>Heavy reinforcements were brought in by Director of Football Michael Emenalo -- <span>Eden Hazard</span> and Oscar, two of the club's best players, arrived this summer, and we got the backup fullback and the dedicated wide player we all wanted on top of that. But there was no backup arriving at centre forward or central midfield, two crucial and very weak positions. Instead, there were departures.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110411/didier-drogba" class="sbn-auto-link">Didier Drogba</a> left. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110412/salomon-kalou" class="sbn-auto-link">Salomon Kalou</a> left. <span>Romelu Lukaku</span> was loaned to <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/west-bromwich-albion" class="sbn-auto-link">West Bromwich Albion</a>. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110660/raul-meireles" class="sbn-auto-link">Raul Meireles</a> was sold to Fenerbahce. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110300/michael-essien" class="sbn-auto-link">Michael Essien</a> was loaned to Real Madrid. This left di Matteo in a bizarre situation -- he was forced to play one of <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110873/fernando-torres" class="sbn-auto-link">Fernando Torres</a> and <span>Daniel Sturridge</span> up top, two players so obviously flawed that it can be physically painful to watch them at work. And in the midfield, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110218/frank-lampard" class="sbn-auto-link">Frank Lampard's</a> injury means a John Obi Mikel-Ramires pivot that looks decent on paper but has coincided with the team's organisational meltdown.</p>
<p>In a sense, then, di Matteo's the fall guy for structural failures elsewhere. That's not to say he didn't compound the problem with some of his decisions, or that his players didn't fail to perform when they should have, but the issues we were going to face were clear from the start. But that's the manager's job in this club: A very well-compensated fall-guy.</p>
<p>Di Matteo will be fine. He's being paid well, and Chelsea managers haven't exactly been unsuccessful after leaving the Bridge. Sacking him isn't 'classless' -- he served at Roman Abramovich's pleasure and the owner had, obviously, reached the end of his rope. But unless there's an ace somewhere up Roman's sleeve, it does seem like poor decision making.</p>
<p>What does firing di Matteo achieve, exactly? We're looking at a man with the same general tactical problems as Andre Villas-Boas without the dogmatism, annoying demeanour and ability to poison the dressing room atmosphere. When Villas-Boas went away, so too did the dressing room problems, allowing the players to regroup. It's difficult to see the same sort of bounceback effect happening this time around.</p>
<p>Who'll be the next to take the reigns? Chelsea "will be making an announcement shortly regarding a new first team manager", which could mean virtually anything. Right now, the money's on Rafael Benitez on the short term, followed by a long spell of Pep Guardiola. Make of that what you will.</p>
<p>But here's the truth behind di Matteo's time at the helm: He wasn't the manager that the club's leadership wanted, but he fell into their collective laps and became impossible to get rid of. A blip like this month wouldn't have cost Ancelotti, Villas-Boas or even Luiz Scolari their jobs. But they weren't assistant managers promoted from within, like di Matteo was. And that, ultimately, is why not even a Champions League title could save him.</p>
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2012/11/21/3674858/roberto-di-matteo-sacked-chelsea-fcGraham MacAree