Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea: Why Blues Must Hire Di Matteo as Long-Term Manager

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich must give Roberto Di Matteo a long-term contract to be the club's manager of the future after the Italian did an amazing job leading the Blues to the 2012 Champions League title over Bayern Munich.

After years of firing managers who didn't bring the European crown to Stamford Bridge, Abramovich must show Di Matteo the recognition he fully deserves after an extraordinary European campaign this season.

Chelsea also won the FA Cup title against Liverpool at Wembley this season, which is a fabulous accomplishment that cannot be overlooked.

After taking over for Andre Villas-Boas in March amid one of the most difficult periods in the club's recent history, Di Matteo's squad became a completely different team.

They played hard for their manager, they never gave up and they showed an unbelievable amount of resilience against some incredibly talented opponents in the Champions League such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Most importantly, the senior players at Chelsea were very productive and received a lot of playing time under Di Matteo, which wasn't the case under Villas-Boas.

At a club like Chelsea that is dominated by several of the veteran leaders like John Terry, Frank Lampard  and Ashley Cole, it's important to have a manager that has their trust and support.

After Di Matteo's performance as manager this season, I imagine the Chelsea players wouldn't be opposed to Di Matteo getting a long-term contract as manager.

Not only would refusing to hire Di Matteo as manager of the future be a poor move for the club, the fans would probably be angry as well.

It would be hard for Abramovich to let Di Matteo go when he just brought the fans the one trophy that they have coveted for many decades. If the Italian is not brought back next season, the backlash from the Chelsea supporters could be fierce, and Abramovich doesn't need to create that kind of distraction.

The best decision for Chelsea no matter how you look at it would be to hire Di Matteo as the club's manager going forward.

He has earned the job by winning two major trophies this season and getting the absolute most out of his players, many of whom were playing poorly when he was named interim manager.

Abramovich finally has his Champions League trophy, so there's no reason to bring in a big-name manager when that approach hasn't worked for him in the past.

Di Matteo should be his man.

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