CHELSEA AND ALL ITS DRAMA

Roberto Di Matteo

The axe came down on Roberto Di Matteo as Chelsea coach in the early hours of yesterday morning after a woeful 3-0 loss to Juventus in the UCL on Tuesday. In many ways, I had been expecting the sack knowing the impertinence of Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich and especially with regard to Chelsea's recent poor form both in the League and in Europe. However, I think this was an unjust way to treat a coach whose name will forever be etched in the history of Chelsea FC as the first manager to lead the club to UCL glory barely six months ago.

I can't blame the owner though. A lot of money was pumped into the team this season to acquire the choice signings of Hazard and Oscar and with those two in the same team, a lot of magic really ought to happen. What is baffling though is the fact that a certain erstwhile-potent-now-turned-barren #50 million striker Fernando Torres has continued to sit pretty through all this. I mean, his goal per coach record since he joined Chelsea is awful to say the least. He is a painful reminder of the days of Andriy Schevchenko in Chelsea. Both were great players in their previous clubs until they came to Chelsea (I shan't say more than this lest I become fodder for irate Chelsea fans).

Fernando Torres

Rafa Benitez

Well, the news of Di Matteo's replacement finally came through and surprisingly...quite surprisingly, it turned out to be former Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez. Seriously, I'll love to have some of what Abramovich is smoking. Benitez?! I'm not even going to chronicle the failures of that guy as a coach since he left Liverpool but I guess he who pays the piper dictates the tune and Benitez seems quite ready to redeem his good name. His appointment to me is a gamble and the final chance for Fernando Torres to break the yoke of barreness or be cast out unceremoniously as another bad investment. If that's the case, Torres is truly favoured by the gods. Who knows? Rafa may just be the miracle Torres has been praying for. I definitely would love to see his barren streak come to an end because regardless of his massive misfortune at Chelsea, he's still a great player.

Congratulations to Rafa Benitez anyway. I hope you beat the shit out of Manchester City! (Yeah, you guessed right. I'm a Manchester United fan. Hehehehehe....)

Malcolm O. Ifi.

Follow on twitter @saymalcolm

Photo Credits:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk