LIAM MACKEY: No Pep in beleaguered Blues’ step
But whatever happens when Arsenal come calling tomorrow, even the frequently embattled Arsene Wenger should still be in charge of the Gunners for some time afterwards because if there’s one club in the Premier League which should make all rival supporters be careful what they wish for, it’s Chelsea.
Lest we forget, they are still the reigning European champions, the kind of achievement long-suffering Gooners can only dream about, yet it’s the Chelsea faithful who are in more mutinous mood these days, the lowest home league crowd of the season on Wednesday night finding endless reasons to say ‘Down with this sort of thing’ — from the provocation of Rafa’s mere presence inside the stadium, to the replacement of the much-loved Frank Lampard by the much-derided Fernando Torres with just over ten minutes remaining.
To further deepen the ugly mood, the same day had already brought the clearest but scarcely surprising confirmation yet that Chelsea are more broadly viewed as damaged goods, when the most in-demand manager in world football, Pep Guardiola, apparently had no problem in choosing the European runners-up rather than the European Champions as his next port of call.
The decision to move to the Bundesliga next season has been spun in some quarters as “a major snub” to Chelsea, whereas the truth is that an obviously intelligent man who has lived the dream at Barcelona was never going to settle for the nightmarish role of potentially becoming a billionaire’s puppet. As Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge put it: “If it were purely down to money, then Bayern would have had no chance. I think he was impressed with our overall concept. He was pleased with the way we have established a financial independence.”
The terrible conundrum for Chelsea supporters is that they can’t afford to turn on Abramovich, a man whose staggering investment has transformed the club into one of England’s top three yet whose sense of entitlement and endless capacity for interference have created innumerable problems in the running of team affairs. And so Rafa Benitez steps into the firing line to take the flak which, even if he did so willingly, hardly makes him the main villain of the piece.
It’s not his decision, for example, that Lampard should be cut loose. And it’s not simply because the player is a fan’s favourite that arguments for his retention carry such force.
As it happened, as Chelsea supporters were bemoaning the 34-year-old’s substitution by Torres on Wednesday night, up at Old Trafford they were hailing a man of the match performance by 39-year-old Ryan Giggs as Manchester United edged out West Ham in an FA Cup replay. (With a little help too from substitute Paul Scholes (38)).
After the game, Alex Ferguson described Giggs as “a phenomenon” and insisted the player still has another good year to give the club. The contrast with Lampard’s situation at Stamford Bridge could hardly be more acute, the mere stripling – by comparison with Giggs – prematurely deemed surplus to requirements, despite enough evidence that, deployed judiciously, he can still provide vital qualities like leadership, experience, drive and goals.
It isn’t all bad news at the Bridge, however, even if, not surprisingly in the currently poisonous atmosphere, the team seems to find playing at home more of an ordeal than an advantage.
But with players like Eden Hazard, Juan Mata and now Demba Ba in their ranks, they can still call on reserves of quality which should test Arsenal to the fullest extent tomorrow.
For their part, the Gunners took a small but significant step in their quest to end their protracted trophy drought with a 1-0 FA cup replay win over Swansea on Wednesday night, a game which was notable for an outstanding display by Jack Wilshere, a player whose authentic claim to a future at the highest levels is all the more remarkable given that he spent all of 17 months out injured until as recently as October. His recovery has been one of the season’s most heartening stories and another reason for Arsenal fans to feel comfortable about finding themselves in the unaccustomed situation of accentuating the positive.
Then again, there’s nothing quite like a visit to Stamford Bridge these days to make anyone feel like counting their blessings.
