Amidst our momentary Champions League bliss, I cannot help but wonder about the direction of our future?
I have little doubt that Mr. Hiddink has provided ample proof of his tactical nous while managing to galvanize the squad. We seemed to start the season with a bang, but were unable to continue our relatively large victory margins. In fact, it seemed that Mr. Scolari`s methodology had been worked out by Rafa the Gaffa and copied by many others. Honestly, Salamon Kalou has kept us within reach of Manchester United this season (with his late goal in our home match with Utd).
Despite Mr. Hiddink`s difficulties with understanding taxes, I believe him to be a man of his word. This is a bit refreshing in the modern game, but unfortunately it means that we will lose the genius behind our recent results. Where does that leave us with regard to next season?
I`ll not go the typical way of prattling on about my choice of our possible managers. Instead, I`ll ask the question: “Given our current situation, what do you see for the future?”
We have an ageing, yet effective squad. We have promising depth, and youngsters. We have one of the most expensive, and prestigious squads in the world.
That being said, we must evaluate our future managerial perspectives with all of that in mind. OLASAL was quick to point out that our last game against Liverpool wouldn`t be a free flowing, fantastic game to watch. It was never meant to be that type of match given the managers, or the respective squads that took the pitch. He was absolutely correct. The result was unexpected by most, and yet entirely predictable. We finally regained our ability to score from set pieces, an ability which we`ve lacked since somewhere around 2006. This used to be a critical part of our key to success, and it is great to see us threatening on this front again.
Analyzing our ability to convert on set pieces, you`ll find an interesting correlation between that figure and our ability to win silverware (with the exception of Jose`s last season). Are we the Barcelona team of 2006? Absolutely not. Nobody is Barcelona, except Barcelona. While they played an amazing brand of footy during that time, it would be ridiculous to think that their brand of footy could be replicated using any other squad.
We seem to play a type of football that can only be described as brutally effective. We`re not sexy, we`re not samba, but we are Chelsea. We`ve shown that we can compete with the best in the world (despite our lack of ‘istoree). Our youngsters are technically gifted, athletically excellent, and brimming with possibilities. With all of that in mind, we should understand that the next manager doesn`t need to be someone who can provide the sexiest footy, but someone who can galvanize the players and make them an effective unit. To quote another Vital member- “It might be sexy Mr. Wenger, but what have you won?”
I`ll extrapolate on this quote, and go a bit further? I was fortunate enough to watch a Northern Ireland qualifier before the Euro `08 tournament, and privy to a cheer of “We`re not Brasil, We`re Norn Iron!”
I`d go so far as to say – “We`re not Barclona, We`re feckin` Chelsea!!!”
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