TIME IS RIGHT FOR ROBERTO
Di Matteo the ideal boss to take Chelsea into last four
ASKED last night if he has a desire to become the permanent manager at Chelsea, Roberto Di Matteo replied that he is happy as the interim coach. His team need to show a bit more ambition when they meet Benfica this evening, but it does sum up the unique nature of this Champions League campaign.
When Avram Grant guided Chelsea to the final in 2008, he did so as manager and there was a slim chance that if he landed the prize Roman Abramovich so craves he might just have remained in charge beyond that night in Moscow.
When Guus Hiddink guided them to the semi-final stage a year later, he did so as the caretaker boss but one so popular among the players they were desperate to see him stay.
This time, though, nobody gives Di Matteo a prayer — the feeling being that any further success he enjoys before the end of the season will only help him secure his next job, rather than keeping the one he occupies.
Di Matteo seems to understand that as well as anyone, which is why he declined the invitation to declare his interest publicly.
It was not a lack of ambition, if truth be told. It was the response of a realist. Someone who knows he would be wasting his time.
In some ways, though, it might be to Chelsea’s benefit, because with Di Matteo — unlike with Andre Villas-boas — they have a manager who can prepare for this evening’s encounter at Stamford Bridge with a clear head.
He does not fear the sack, he does not fear the consequences of losing the dressing room and, as a result, he is not afraid to omit certain players from his side.
It is why, he argued last night, he did not deserve the praise he received for what was seen as a courageous team selection for the first leg of this quarter-final tie at the Estadio da Luz — a team that did not include Michael Essien, Frank Lampard or Didier Drogba.
‘ I didn’t think it was a brave selection,’ he said. ‘I thought it was the right selection with the players we had available. The next selection will again reflect the players in best form and shape to play against a strong Benfica team.’
But he accepted that the presence of a manager concerned only with the team, rather than himself, has to be a positive.
‘Stability helps every player and every club,’ he said.
Last night Di Matteo claimed he has all his players available and if that really is the case there would be a temptation, surely, to make only one change to the side that won the away leg courtesy of a Salomon Kalou goal; Branislav Ivanovic for Paulo Ferreira.
But there are concerns about Ivanovic and David Luiz, while there could also be a temptation to select Lampard ahead of Raul Meireles when the Portugal midfielder has been suffering with a slight knee problem. That said, Lampard started against Aston Villa at the weekend and one major challenge facing Di Matteo is keeping his players fresh when the fixture list is looking so congested.
Assuming they progress this evening, Chelsea will have to play 11 games in 40 days, excluding the FA Cup final and the Champions League final that marks the end of the club season.
‘There are a lot of clubs that would like to have so many games, to be involved in all these competitions at this stage of the season,’ said Di Matteo, and he is right.
But it is quite a task Chelsea face when the desire to land a trophy will be more than matched by a desperation to secure Champions League football next season.
‘It’s very demanding for the players, but we’re in a good place,’ said Di Matteo. ‘We have to keep going and try to win something.’
Even for a club close to securing a sixth Champions League semi-final in nine seasons — an incredible record even if each campaign has ended in bitter disappointment — winning this competition remains a tall order when the quality of the teams that remain involved is so impressively high. What Chelsea do have, though, is momentum.
They have to be careful this evening. Benfica were poor last week, but, as Di Matteo pointed out, they have scored in every away game in the Champions League this season and players like Oscar Cardozo and Pablo Aimar remain a serious threat.
At Stamford Bridge last night Joao Ricardo Pateiro, a prominent Portuguese television commentator, did a piece to camera for Chelsea TV celebrating an Aimar ‘gooooaaaaal’.
Not that this should particularly concern Chelsea. As Di Matteo says, they are in a good place, even if it is a temporary one.
They have rediscovered the collective spirit that was at the heart of their success in the past.
And Ramires pointed to the dismissal of Villas-boas and promotion of Di Matteo as the reason for this change in atmosphere. ‘We have taken great strength from the change in the coach,’ said the Brazilian.
The fact that they have changed to a coach who is not carrying the usual Chelsea baggage certainly makes a difference.