There's only one di Matteo!

[Strike 7,271]

In the midst of a glorious period in Chelsea history, the fact that Roberto di Matteo is still “interim” manager casts a dark shadow over the club. Given our recent managerial roundabout and the subsequent calls for stability, I am surprised that as of now, we have no permanent manager

The plan for the summer –

1. Sign wingers – check

2. Sell dead wood – check

3. Send-off Drogba – check

4. Hire manager – TBA

Even though the transfer window isn’t officially open yet, Chelsea have made waves in the market snapping up highly sought-after Belgian attacker Eden Hazard and have also added German winger Marko Marin to the side. The Chelsea team, all of a sudden, looks devastating in attack now and with the impending arrival of Hulk it can only get better. While I agree with the club’s decisions on the transfer market, I feel that this Abramovich-fuelled pursuit for Pep Guardiola is pointless. Sure, Pep is a great manager but getting him here is a very risky move given that he has managed only Barca so far

Roberto di Matteo’s record as interim manager of Chelsea

P W D L W%

21 13 5 3 62

I wouldn’t read too much into the 3 losses because 2 of them came with a second string team when he had already sacrificed the Premier League for the Champions League. His record is fantastic given the team he had at his disposal and as Sloth mentioned, di Matteo’s abilities are underrated. He had to juggle with his defenders getting suspended, injured and also with a mediocre attack at best. He got his tactics spot on in most of the games – especially in the Champions League. When we had to attack against Napoli, he put out a very attacking side with Ramires Mata Sturridge and Drogba all piling forward. At Benfica, he put out a cautious counter-attacking side and nicked a valuable away goal. He picked muscle over pace in the semifinal ties and once again, he was spot on. Sure, he got lucky with the Messi and Robben penalty misses but any team has to ride its luck in order to win the Champions League.

Moreover, di Matteo (and Eddie Newton for that matter) is a Blue blood and I feel THAT is the biggest advantage of hiring Roberto. He knows the club inside out and has a connection with the current crop of players. He has shown that he isn’t afraid to take a leap of faith - While AVB didn’t trust young left-back Ryan Bertrand to play an FA Cup game, di Matteo played him at the Emirates (where he was clearly the MotM) and in the Champions League Final as well. The same goes to Salomon Kalou and Jose Bosingwa who put in inspired performances at a crucial stage of the season and all because di Matteo trusted them to step up.

The only other candidate I would consider for the managerial position is Jose Mourinho and it is ironic how Jose and Roberto are poles apart in their management style. Where Jose is a maverick who engages in mind games, di Matteo is calmness personified responding to tricky questions from the press with generic responses. Mourinho, with his swagger of arrogance is a walking double-edged sword as his bold statements could easily backfire while di Matteo carries on with his job without the additional pressure of the press. You might say there are similarities in the way their respective teams play but I think judging di Matteo’s style of play now is unfair as Chelsea are on the brink of an overhaul. Only if di Matteo (deservedly) retains his managerial position for next season, you can draw comparisons between his team and Jose’s back-to-back title winning teams.

The defensive style of play is the only criticism against di Matteo. While it is true that Chelsea did play defensive football at times, holding that against di Matteo is harsh. His previous team West Brom played vibrant attacking football (came back from 2-0 down to 2-2 at Old Trafford) and to be fair, I don't think any team would go to the Nou Camp orThe Allianz Arena and try to attack, that too with the 2011-12 Chelsea squad. Next season, with Hazard and Hulk replacing Kalouda, I am sure di Matteo will turn us into an attacking force again.

The future looks bright for Chelsea Football Club and hopefully with di Matteo in charge, the Italian Job can continue

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