Chelsea getting what they Deserve!

Winning the Premier League and battling for the Champion's League trophy were the primary objectives of Chelsea FC for most of the past decade since Roman Abramovich took charge. Now they find themselves struggling to earn a Champions league spot in the Premier League, and are staring at an inevitable exit from the Champions League. 

I say this with confidence because I believe that Chelsea are going through an internal struggle, and if they are to stand a chance against well organized, clinical opponents (which they are likely to meet sooner or later in the CL), they must sort out the problems within their ranks first. 

Andre Villas-Boas: 

He made a name for himself in Porto, he had his player's behind him, went a whole season unbeaten! Broke records for most consecutive wins and most points captured in the Portuguese league. With no experience as a professional football player, and only 9 months of coaching experience in Portugal, Andre Villas- Boas took the helm at Porto and went on to win 4 trophies in his first year in Football Management. A dream start for AVB's career, which surely caught the attention of Abramovich who forked out 15 million Euros to bring this young magician to take charge of Chelsea, believing him to be the Alchemist with the Master-Plan who will finally deliver him the Champions League Trophy that has evaded the club so far. 

A few months later, a different story unfolds. Now Abramovich finds his team struggling to compete under his newly appointed tactician. As the season unfolds, their performances have slumped, conceding amateur goals, lacking clarity, ideas, consistency. They certainly don't look like the strong and stable Chelsea that we have been use to over the years. 

Andre Villas-Boas is now in a difficult position. But can you really blame him? Suddenly, a man with minimal experience as a coach must deal with players of a similar age group to him, who have had significant achievements, with big ego's. It is certainly not an easy task for either side. For a player like Lampard, Terry, or Cech to actually listen to AVB and treat him as not only an equal , but as a superior...imagine that. No surprise then,  as soon as AVB announced his no-Lampard lineup, tension began to mount. 

AVB in a difficult position... Literally

He is the coach in the end, and he selects the players , however, excluding Lampard is something AVB would have probably avoided if he were a bit wiser. Lampard is still one of the best players on the team, and as a new comer, even if you're the boss, you need to get the players who have the most influence, on your side. Had that happened , you would probably have seen more unity and team spirit in the dressing room and on the field. Alas, it seems like Villas-Boas' ego caught up with him as well...with an aggressive attitude and the mindset of turning the whole club around , AVB expects everyone to do his bidding. 

This doesn't imply that he is a poor manager or coach. He might have made a few wrong decisions, it can happen to anyone, especially at the start of their career, but the main issue here is that AVB doesn't seem to have the support of his players. A fundamental problem that usually ends with the departure of the manager. 

  Roman Abramovich:

Roman Abramovich

I've always wondered how irrational people such as Roman Abramovich end up being billionaires. To recap, this man paid 15 million Euros for a new-unproven manager who has won 4 titles in his 1 year career to replace Carlo Ancelotti, a World-Class manager who has won 14 major trophies, including 2 Champions League Tournaments during his 17 years of experience as a manager. Carlo won the Premier League and the FA cup in his first season in charge at Chelsea. In his second season, Chelsea finished 2nd, only 3 points behind eventual winners, Manchester United. (who also eliminated Chelsea from the CL Quarter Finals). Carlo had expressed more than once his desire to keep his job, yet found himself sacked at the end of his second year with Chelsea. 

Lets not forget that Abramovich is a man that has contributed to the departure of Mourinho from Chelsea, and subsequently sacked Scolari and Ancelotti. History, therefore is not on young AVB's side. 

Lets also not forget that since Abramovich took ownership of Chelsea, the club has witnessed it's most successful period in it's history , however, this doesn't change the seemingly irrational reactions Abramovich has when it comes to sacking and hiring managers. 

Maybe he has a mysterious footballing philosophy in mind that he would like to see his team play, but no manager so far has succeeded in translating it onto the pitch? Who knows how these Billionaires think...

In the end, the trigger happy Russian is now getting what he deserves through a current Chelsea team that is average on all counts and can only hope to somehow salvage Champions League Qualification from this mess of a season. 

The even sadder part is that Abramovich probably won't learn anything from this experience as he is likely to continue churning out top quality managers year after year, who given time, would've achieved something for Chelsea and their fans.