Chelsea FC: Roberto Di Matteo Can Make Jose Mourinho's Legacy His Own

Just a few weeks ago, it was all doom and gloom at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea looked less like a team with inspiration and direction by the week—plagued with rumors and reports of dressing-room conflicts and faced with accusations that young manager Andre Villas-Boas didn’t know how to take charge of such a high-profile team.

Then, just like that, in stepped Roberto Di Matteo to steady the ship.

It was an admission of Villas-Boas’ failures in bringing the team forward that owner Roman Abramovich’s high-profile pursuit of the former Porto coach led to his dismissal before his first season even ended.

And the continued influence of the old guard—Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry in particular—on the entire Chelsea team showed that Jose Mourinho’s shadow was still considerable.

It is a testament to Mourinho’s recruitment policy and the players’ longevity that they still loom large at Stamford Bridge.

But this is far from a headache for Roberto Di Matteo, because the caretaker nature of Di Matteo’s current tenure actually works to his, and his players’, advantage.

Short-termism may be rampant in Abramovich’s empire, but when the focus of the squad is to achieve as much as possible from now until the end of the season, the present is all they need to worry about.

That means the stage is all set for Chelsea’s old-timers.

In the Champions League, where Chelsea have a good chance of making the semifinals, they have seasoned campaigners in the form of Mourinho’s old boys, who have amassed all the experience they can get in the past seasons under various coaches. Mourinho, Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Carlo Ancelotti—their gameplans for Europe might just come in handy, and the old-timers are in the best position to take advantage of their exposure.

In the Premier League, Di Matteo finds a flush of options in the first team. Drogba tired? No worries—a fitter and improving Fernando Torres is available. Chelsea’s new boys will gain more prominence as Juan Mata, Daniel Sturridge and, yes, even Raul Meireles, get a chance to show their worth.

Combine youthful fervor and age-old experience, and the result is a perfect blend of players with whom to tackle an end-of-season fixture list.

According to goal.com, the Mourinho-era players might be heading for summer exits from Stamford Bridge, but their commitment to the club might just shine through as they power through the latter stages of the Champions League in an effort to make their mark on the competition—their last hurrah.

Considering the previous mood at Chelsea, everything seems a bit rosier these days. A fourth-place finish would represent an improvement, while anything can happen in Europe.

So Roberto Di Matteo has a great opportunity on his hands: If all goes to plan, he can make Mourinho’s legacy his own.

Who knows—he might even set a perfect platform for the return of the Special One, according to the Daily Mail.
 

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