It comes as no surprise that Roman Abramovich has sacked Roberto Di Matteo (RDM). This time it is not a mistake to sack him rather the mistake was done earlier in the season when he handed over the reins to RDM. Common sense did not prevail for Roman at the right time. What a fall for RDM who has lifted the UCL in May this year and it would not have been even in his wild dreams that he would be in this position come November. I was always of the opinion that RDM still lacked that quality to succeed at a big club like Chelsea. Tactically he was not good this season during difficult situations and did not do any wonder changes. After all he has not proved anything and a full season was always going to be his biggest challenge. The success he had with them came without any pressure at all as he was just asked to steady the ship and the champions league was a bonus.
What will Roman do from here? He definitely has more than one option. He always wanted Guardiola to take the post. So the first option is Guardiola. If Pep says no and that he wanted to continue his sabbatical then the second option arises. Clearly if Roman wants to try and get Pep next summer then he will again look for someone to steady the ship till next May. Now there wont be many high profile names willing to do so given the fact that they will eventually be replaced by Pep or even before that if results don't go right. Next option will be to get a high profile coach on a lengthy contract. Sadly not many are available at the moment and it is not in Chelsea's genes that they give an opportunity to some one young and be patient with him.
Let's look out for couple of options he has.
1. Rafa Benitez
Benitez has been linked with chelsea in the past. Some people might be raising their eyebrows here when they hear about Rafa. But look he is a good coach with plenty of experience and he would be a good option to have. Everyone would argue with me pointing at Liverpool but you must acknowledge the fact that the season before he was sacked they came second in the league and they were really unlucky not to have won it. Not to forget the UCL they won before. The mistake Rafa did was the way he handled Alonso which eventually led to Alonso moving to Spain. And then in Italy he inherited an old team and one without much motivation having won everything the previous season and it always takes time to build another one. Look at Inter now and they have not gone any better. So I strongly believe Rafa should be given a chance. He might be only available on a two or three year deal as I don't believe that he would be open to the idea of being in charge only for someone else to take over.
2. Mourinho
Recently he was in the news after his family were spotted in London. But I really dont think he would come and join in the middle of the season. He is masterminding his ext from Spain and has been going on for a while. But he wont be available until next summer which he has told openly. The coming summer will be very interesting in terms of some managerial positions at various clubs. Manchester City might need one as well as Arsenal unless they win at least one trophy this season and chelsea being in the situation they are in now it must be very interesting not to mention Manchester United.
Now lets look at Roberto and his future. Well he added one UCL to his CV which will make few clubs to show interest in him. He should accept his luck over the last 8 months. My opinion is that he is always a mid table team manager where the pressure will be much lower. QPR and Southampton might be tempted to go for him now and maybe couple of clubs from Italy as well. Lets see who acts first.
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