As a triumphant smile filled with elation and ecstasy
glistened on the face of Roberto Di Matteo as he rose above the stands
of the Allianz Arena to proudly hold aloft Chelsea's maiden Champions
League crown in 2012, you could be forgiven for feeling a slight sense
of emptiness.
The seemingly incongruous realisation that the Italian had
led Chelsea to its greatest triumph as interim manager in a
rollercoaster season feels as out of place as Tony Pulis coaching at La
Masia.
Roberto Di Matteo held a special place in the hearts of all Blues
supporters even before his short stint in charge though, thanks to six
years of service as a player where he is best remembered for lashing a
30-yard screamer home after just 43 seconds of the 1997 FA Cup final
against Middlesbrough, as well as his decisive goal in the final three
years later against Aston Villa.
Famous night in Munich
However, despite all the emotions ranging from relief to pure
unbridled joy at having finally claimed the holy grail after such a long
time, deep down there must have been a little sense of unfulfillment,
especially from the senior players. Of course, winning the Champions
League is all that really matters for the players but if there was one
man who was as driven and destined to deliver the 'Big Ears' to Stamford
Bridge it is none other than Jose Mourinho.
He is the spiritual leader of this football 'club' throughout the
Abramovich era, the man who moulded the modern Chelsea and transformed
it into a well oiled machine that would dominate with its parts adopting
winning as part of its DNA.
Given how close Chelsea were to winning Europe's greatest prize and
the controversies and heartbreak which ultimately characterised
Chelsea's Champions League ventures during Jose Mourinho's first reign,
it would have been fitting for Mourinho had he led Chelsea to its first
victory after a succession of near misses.
Still something to prove
The inability to do so during his first reign is perhaps
something that still stings the special one, given how eager and happy
he was to return to Chelsea after three tumultuous campaigns at Real
Madrid.
His rivalry with then Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez throughout their
Champions League bouts were gripping for their tactical acumen if not
for the aesthetics on show, with Benitez triumphant on both their last
four encounters during 2005 and 2007.
A proud man such as Mourinho would be livid with such ostensible
incompetence, but given the nature of the defeats which involve the
awarding of a controversial 'ghost goal' to Luis Garcia and a penalty
shootout defeat, Mourinho would have been even more frustrated with
Chelsea's inability to reach the final.
Frustration still there
Besides the near misses during his first reign, what Mourinho brought
to this Chelsea team cannot be measured by tangible continental title
successes, but rather by those intangibles that so often form the
crucial basis in which great teams are built from.
It was under him that Chelsea rose to worldwide prominence and
popularity as he swept through his first two seasons in the Premiership
claiming back to back titles like he had coached in England for years.
It was under him that Chelsea made their first real strides in
Europe's premier club competition by overcoming continental powerhouses
Barcelona and Bayern Munich in 2004/2005 to instil belief in a team that
lacked European pedigree.
It was under him that Chelsea learned the cruelties and injustices
which often lie within the latter stages of the Champions League as the
Liverpool defeats attests to.
It is these nearly moments and experiences of heartache and suffering
which cultivated Chelsea's obsession to win the Champions League.
It is those moments of pain and sorrow as well as pride and joy which
have helped develop an astuteness and shrewdness on the continent which
has replaced a naivety and complacency that is naturally associated
with teams winning at home but lacking continental pedigree.
Legacy to sustain
These intangibles that so often aided Chelsea's miraculous run to
European glory in 2012 where their backs to the wall performances were
made possible due to past experiences and a street-smartness about its
football which concealed the obvious lack of relative talent and quality
in the squad at the time.
Chelsea won ugly but negotiated it's way through all sorts of
different challenges because it had seen virtually every situation
confronting it before. To win, was a moment to cherish forever for every
blues fan but to win it with the commander in chief who had suffered
and celebrated with them in Jose Mourinho, would have seen the script go
right to plan.
Those early years when Mourinho was building not just footballers but
newly formed winners who would drive on in search of glory and retain
that burning desire for the rest of their careers regardless of whether
Mourinho was there, were unforgettable career defining times for many
players.
Trusted core
John Terry was just 23 when he was given the armband and as a
promising academy graduate he had the potential to be a top player but
it was Mourinho who had transformed him into the inspiring warrior who
would become a club icon for the next decade.
Frank Lampard arrived at Stamford Bridge for big money and with a big
name to lug around which seemingly weighed him down for his first
couple of years but it was Mourinho who challenged him to be the best he
could be and would go on to be runner up to Ronaldinho for the 2005
Ballon d'or.
A pursuit of perfection channeled into him by Mourinho would allow
Lampard to be considered among he's generations finest midfielders which
could hardly be seen to be possible upon his arrival in 2001.
Petr Cech was a burgeoning talent at Sparta Prague and Stade Rennes
but was nonetheless an unknown but, Mourinho preached patience and hard
work and soon he would depose former number one goalkeeper Carlo
Cudicini as the Czech would go on to break record after record in the
Premier League as one of the finest keepers in the world in 2005.
Mourinho plucked a relatively unknown Ivorian from obscurity in
Didier Drogba for a hefty sum of £24m and in 2006/2007 saw the birth of
perhaps the most talented target man the world has ever seen. Twice a
golden boot winner, 12 trophies and 157 goals later he would depart the
club in 2012 as a bona fide legend of the club for his heroics in
Munich.
Abramovich's millions wisely invested
They were and for some still are the spine of Chelsea with players
such as Arjen Robben, Michael Essien and Joe Cole also enjoying
significant transformations as the foundations were laid during
Mourinho's first stint for the sustained success of a newly reformed
football club.
People often wonder how it is possible for the club to continue to
enjoy success despite the countless managerial changes that have
occurred since Mourinho's departure in 2007, but it is easy to see the
answer is Mourinho. John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Petr
Cech are big names and big characters at the football club and have
remained a constant throughout the ceaseless hiring and firing of
managers.
They have been the pillars of success and stability as Mourinho
instilled a love and passion for the club in its core players to take
on the responsibility of building a football club and engendering a
unity and spirit that functioned in harmony to obtain titles. That sort
of long lasting loyalty and service is not easy to instill into people
especially those who have just arrived to a club with little affinity or
connection with it. And its not as if clubs weren't circling either.
Premature exit
Drogba was distraught when Mourinho left and was on the verge of
exiting to either Madrid or Milan but he grew a fondness for Chelsea
during his time and remained. Lampard was strongly linked to
Internazionale in 2009 but he remained because he knew as vice captain
of the club he had a duty to stand firm for his club.
If the leaders of a club could be coaxed into joining another, it
would be soul destroying for the image of the club and what it
represented. Terry turned down a big money offer in the same off season
to lead his club to the club's first double as he rejected the advances
of Manchester City. The skipper knows Mourinho like no other and shares a
special bond with him, but at 33 he knows he has to prove himself again
and again and thats why the sight of Terry being the first player to
enter current pre-season training all of his own accord, is such a
powerful statement.
He is determined to kick on and remain a part of the clubs push for
success. It's also pertinent to point out that Frank Lampard and Ashley
Cole's departure's were not because of their own desire to leave, but
the club's decision to look to the future. Cech is facing stern
competition from Courtois to remain Chelsea's number one, and while he
could easily decide to hand over the reigns to a hungry and competent
keeper much like himself a decade earlier so that he could get one last
bumper contract at a Monaco, PSG or Barcelona, he is determined to
continue striving for success at Chelsea.
Drogba again could have moved to the middle east or the US for more
money, but the lure of returning home and working with Mourinho for one
last title push is the measure of a man who has learnt to love and
treasure his club.
Mourinho has spoken of his satisfaction to be back where his loved
and of his intention to stay at Stamford Bridge for as long as possible.
He is willing to be in it for the long haul and leave a long and
lasting legacy at a club he will forever be fondly associated with.
Chelsea have made big changes to the team since its last title triumph
in 2010 and has won all there is to win. There are no more objectives or
obsessions to be had with competitions.
There is now the need for a long term vision, a mandate of sorts to
bring more trophies, revenue, supporters, sponsors and stability to a
club that needs to move forward if it is to stay amongst the upper
echelons of the sport.
How does Mourinho compare?
Sir Alex Ferguson arrived at Manchester United vowing to 'knock
Liverpool off their perch'. After 26 years and 38 trophies including 13
league titles and 2 European Cups you could say he has achieved that.
Arsene Wenger is approaching 20 years of management at Arsenal and
whilst no bold objectives were revealed, he has revolutionised football
in England with his scientific methods on training and nutrition which
helped immensely in turning players into conscientious professionals off
the pitch.
On the pitch, he completely overhauled the clubs image from a dour
and defensive team to one which assembled young talent from all across
the globe to exhibit breathtakingly fluid and flowing football that has
now come to characterise the 'Arsenal Way'.
Jose Mourinho has plenty to ponder on the pitch and plenty off it as
well as Chelsea's new stadium plans, financial fair play requirements,
youth academy, recruitment and finances all being topics of interest.
Academy yet to prosper
Mourinho has spoken recently of how the signing of Luke Shaw on
mammoth wages would have proven divisive in the dressing room thus
Chelsea's hesitance as Mourinho looks to safeguard the harmony of his
team and limit the extravagance in spending.
He has spoken of his belief of how promising youth team players such
as Lewis Baker, Izzy Brown and Dom Solanke are all potential England
players where he is prepared to integrate them into the first team.
Mourinho has young talent at his disposal- Nathaniel Chalobah, Nathan
Ake, Andreas Christensen, John Swift, Patrick Bamford, Oriol Romeu,
Marco Van Ginkel, Kurt Zouma, Thomas Kalas etc.
How he goes about integrating the youngsters into the team will be
crucial for the long term future of the club if it wants to become self
sustaining and not reliant on its owner.
Chelsea has come a long way since its resurgence throughout the late
90s where players such as Marcel Desailly, Didier, Deschamps, Ruud
Gullit, Gianluca Vialli, Gianfronco Zola, Frank Leboeuf and Mark Hughes
are just some of the household names that graced Stamford Bridge in the
blue of Chelsea. World Cup winners, Champions league winners and Ballon
d'or winners and whilst these players were largely over the hill players
upon their arrival, there is no denying the calibre and pedigree of
these players who contributed to bring trophies back to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea transformed from top to bottom
Now, some 15 years on, Chelsea have gone to another level having
cemented itself as one of the world's finest clubs with its Champions
league victory cementing its place in history. But where to from now?
Chelsea having been around for 109 years yet have claimed a paltry 4
league titles. That simply is not good enough for a club of this
stature.
Jose Mourinho must set a vision to improve that figure. Five titles
in the next decade? Ten titles by 2030? What about Europe? Real Madrid
have won the European Cup 10 times. Milan 7 times. Bayern Munich 5
times. Liverpool who have returned to the Champions league have won it 5
times. Where do Chelsea's ambitions lie? Are they happy to be among the
winners list? Striving to challenge for trophies is what every top club
sets out to achieve.
However, a long term vision to challenge a team to win a certain
amount within a certain timeframe inspires and motivates as the
successes of every passing season become a distant memory and
complacency diminishes.
Under huge pressure
For however long he is here, Mourinho is the man entrusted with
discovering the next John Terry's, Didier Drogba's and Frank Lampard's
and integrating domestic talent into an increasingly foreign flavoured
team.
He must build the club on and off the pitch because he shares the
same love and passion for the club as his contemporaries have shown for
Manchester United and Arsenal who have created stable environments for
their respective teams to flourish. The same long term vision must be
shown by the 'special one' if Chelsea are to truly realise its
potential.
Match report: Werder Bremen 3 Chelsea 0
News
The sight of Thibaut Courtois in a Chelsea
shirt for the first time, and Didier Drogba again in blue, were the
highlights of an otherwise disappointing afternoon.
Courtois made one outstanding stop in his first 45 minutes in a
Chelsea shirt, but he could do nothing about the two goals that gave
Werder Bremen their half-time advantage. The first came from the spot
after
John Terry was adjudged to have handled; the second was an unstoppable header.
Drogba was introduced at the break for his first game since we won
the Champions League in this country two years ago. Him and another sub,
Eden Hazard,
looked most likely to get us back into the game but it was Bremen that
had the final say, netting another penalty with time almost up.
It’s back to London, then, after a first defeat of pre-season.
Team news
Along with Drogba and Courtois both
John Mikel Obi and
Hazard were also given their first minutes of pre-season having joined up with the squad this week.
It was the same front six that had begun our 3-1 win at Vitesse
Arnhem on Wednesday evening, however. That meant starts for strikers
Diego Costa and
Torres, with
Cesc Fabregas again chosen in the no.10 role.
Kurt
Zouma partnered skipper
John Terry in defence,
Cesar Azpilicueta and Filipe Luis the full-backs.
Franco Di Santo, a Blue between 2008 and 2010, played the first hour for Werder.
First half
The teams were welcomed onto the pitch by a vocal home support under
glorious blue skies in the north of Germany. There were a sizable number
of travelling Chelsea fans, too.
Those backing the Blues will have been mightily impressed by
Courtois’ first action in a Chelsea shirt. A Werder corner was not fully
cleared and when it was swung back in, Di Santo was left unmarked, six
yards out, centre of goal.
His header was a good one and looked destined for the net. That was
until the two-metre tall Belgian stooped low to his right to
dramatically claw the ball away. It was a save of the very highest
quality.
We threatened for the first time when Terry
volleyed across goal and wide, before his defensive partner Zouma
almost got on the end of a dangerous Fabregas free-kick.
The opening exchanges had been tidy, if unspectacular. Then, on 18
minutes, the referee took centre stage when he awarded the home side a
penalty. Eljero Elia skipped around Terry and dashed down the wing. He
whipped a cross over which hit our retreating captain’s side, and the
man in the middle deemed it handball.
Courtois went the right way – to his left – but Elia’s spot-kick was immaculately placed.
Torres shot over from a decent position after Azpilicueta’s cross
evaded everyone, and that miss proved costly as Werder almost
immediately doubled their advantage.
Elia was again at the heart of it, picking out the unmarked Ludovic
Obraniak. The Pole still had plenty to do, positioned as he was 10 yards
from goal and in front of the posts, but he brazenly glanced his header
across Courtois into the far corner. It was a fine goal.
Torres had played the majority of the first 45 wide on the left and
it was from this position that he almost found a route through a
stubborn Bremen defence. The Spaniard bundled his way past a couple of
challenges and shot for goal as he fell to earth, the legs of Raphael
Wolf blocking his effort.
Second half
The scoreline and the friendly nature of the game dictated Mourinho make
changes during the interval, permitting the thrilling sight of seeing
Drogba in a Chelsea shirt for the first time since 19 May 2012, when we
lifted the European Cup in Munich.
His first action was to very nearly get on the end of another
inswinging Fabregas free-kick that bewitched the home side’s defence.
Hazard was introduced before the hour with a spark from open play the target.
That nearly came on 68 minutes after fellow substitute Nathan Ake did
brilliantly to win a tackle on the edge of his box and release the 2014
Player of the Year down the left. Hazard raced for goal before
intelligently playing in Fabregas, whose deft chip just exceeded the
Bremen crossbar.
Hazard then released Drogba whose cutback was put behind, and from
the resulting corner Terry very nearly got on the end of Fabregas’s
delivery. This was comfortably our best spell of the game.
Good work from Jeremie Boga and then Fabregas afforded Drogba some
space on the right-hand side of the box but his rasping drive fizzed
wide of Wolf’s goal.
When Terry was replaced with a quarter-of-an-hour to go, Drogba took
the captain’s armband. Mikel dropped back into central defence with the
introduced Lewis Baker joining Nemanja Matic in the middle of
midfield.
You wouldn’t know Hazard had only been back
in training for three days. Picking up a long Cech throw inside his own
half, the winger beautifully danced his way past a host of Bremen
defenders. Unfortunately, the finish didn’t quite match the run, shot
beyond the far post.
The final action of the match was another Bremen penalty, with this
time Ake penalised for what looked an excellent last-ditch challenge.
Felix Kroos, brother of Toni, converted from 12 yards and ensured our
European training camp ended on a disappointing note.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois (Cech h/t); Azpilicueta (Boga 69),
Zouma (Cahill h/t), Terry (c) (Baker 75), Filipe Luis (Ivanovic h/t);
Van Ginkel (Mikel h/t), Matic; Salah (Hazard 56), Fabregas, Torres (Ake
56); Diego Costa (Drogba h/t).
Unused subs Christensen, Chalobah, Solanke.
Xabi Alonso has emerged as a target for Manchester United[GETTY]
![Fernando Torres joined Chelsea from Liverpool for £50m in January 2011… Fernando Torres’ Chelsea misery continued last weekend, with another […]](http://maxcdn.fanatix.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Fernando-Torres-Chelsea.jpg "(Video) Watch Chelsea’s Fernando Torres strike another pre-season blunder")
Mourinho’s
intentions with him are unclear, but don’t expect anything like his
starring role of yesteryear, despite the Chelsea boss referring to him
as still one of the best strikers in Europe. Perhaps a sneak-peak of
what to expect however came during the 
The
very fact that we describe two trophy barren seasons a massive
disappointment for Mourinho is credit to the standards he’s set for
himself. Still, for the first time, he doesn’t seem as untouchable as he
once was. If Chelsea struggle in the coming season, how long will it be
before the likes of Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Matic, Azpilicueta and co
begin to lose faith? If Jose goes three seasons without a league title,
what will stop the younger players from thinking Mourinho’s a spent
force? They weren’t around for his first spell in charge, in fact only
Terry, Mikel and Čech remain. But in Drogba, Mourinho has one more big
voice in the dressing room who will have his back no matter what, an
extremely popular figure at Chelsea who will do his bit to keep the
dressing room together in the event of a rough patch. For Mourinho,
having Drogba around is nothing but good news.
