Roman Abramovich has invested heavily in Chelsea and as a result, he has achieved success during his time at the club. His appointment of Jose Mourinho as manager was the best managerial coup by a Premiership side since Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. The fact that Sir Alex continues to defy age and remains as hungry as ever, is arguably a result of the job the special one did at Chelsea. Mourinho provided Sir Alex with a challenge he just couldnt resist. The success United have achieved since Mourinho's time in the Premiership, is a direct result of United having no option but to make changes in order to wrestle the title away from Stamford Bridge. Even though Carlo Ancelotti delivered the double to Abramovich two seasons back, it wasn't enough to save him from the axe this season. It was evident that there was clearly trouble at Stamford Bridge, when Ray Wilkins was shown the door half way through last season.
The arrival of Fernando Torres provided a breath of fresh air around Stamford Bridge, however, it wasn't long before the air went stale again.The acquisition of Torres by Chelsea while they still possessed the clinical Didier Drogba, demonstrates a more long term plan being put in place by Abramovich. The appointment of Villas-Boas in favour of Guus Hiddink also provides evidence that Abramovich is realising the need for patiency and development in order to achieve continued success. It has taken two embarrassing Champions League final defeats by Barcelona, for Sir Alex to realise that he has to invest heavily, and Abramovich will have to do the same. Chelsea have been non existant in the transfer market so far and that will change radically in the coming weeks, as it will with the blue side of Manchester. However, it is the appointment of Villas-Boas that could prove to be Chelsea's best acquisition of the summer. The young manager has already shown what he is capable of with Porto last season with little managerial experience. Then you have to take into account, the uncanny resemblance to the appointment of Jose Mourinho once upon a time.
Just like Mourinho, Villa-Boas was mentured by the late great Sir Bobby Robson and even lived in the same appartment block as him. It could be argued that Villa-Boas also received the more broader menturing of the two, as he also had the privilege of working under Mourinho, learning a great deal from him. Villa-Boas worked with the special one at Chelsea and also Inter, highlighting Mourinho's belief in his ability. This will provide Villa-Boas with an a distinct advantage upon arrival at Chelsea and will stand to him incredibly at Stamford Bridge. He knows how Mourinho operated at Chelsea and how he got the best out of his players. Villa-Boas bided his time under Mourinho, before feeling confident enough to leave his comfortable position at Inter to begin his own managerial career. The ingredients are there for Villa-Boas to be successful at Chelsea, but he will need time. He will also need to make some big decisions, starting with the Torres and Drogba scenario. There appears to be a lot of dead wood at Chelsea and a mix up is definately needed if they are to challenge on all fronts again next season. Are we witnessing the birth of the next special one? Only time and money will tell. It will be interesting to see if Villa-Boas gets both.
No comments:
Post a Comment