Being crowned the king is a dream come true for any sane human being. The status of a king has been sought after for ages by just about every human being that walks on planet earth.
Now picture it being done in front of a huge crowd that had looked forward to that moment. The feeling is beyond any form of describe.
The ‘Pride of London’ were finally crowned kings of Europe in front of a packed 69,900 capacity stadium in Munich, Germany. When Drogba stepped up for the final penalty, it was like the world was about to either spit on Chelsea or bow down. The moment was simply historic.
Come the latter days and Chelsea, still basking in glory and reeling in pride, have already announced the exit of Drogba. The 34-year old striker indeed has performed his duties and completed the mission. After lifting the trophy, the Ivorian calmly turned towards the owner and gifted him with the ‘holy grail’. Need not say much, the Russian showed the world what his desire had been for the past nine or so years.
With the famous London club trying to sharpen up its weapons to match next season’s tasks, change across the squad is inevitable. The blues will be seeking the services of a strong winger on the left flank to strengthen the pace and ease pressure on Ashley Cole. Eden Hazard seeing the much-awaited win come Chelsea’s way, has decided to open the doors for talks between him and the club’s official. This is great opportunity for Chelsea to show interest and grab the decorated Belgian and inject him into the midfield battalion.
At the centre half, Chelsea’s captain on Saturday, Lampard has had a god run with the club and might be considering the option of hanging his boots to concentrate on post professional activities. This is most likely to happen after the Euro 2012 since the famous midfielder has deserved a call-up and indeed he got the much-coveted call. At the prime age of 33, Lampard is being seen as considering retiring from soccer as the midfielder has risen to great heights with the blues to scoop a massive 12 trophies, with the latest coming as captain in Europe’s most prestigious club event.
John Terry might be staying on and keep playing but his age is fast catching up with him as the English man is soon entering the 30 year age bracket. Holding solid at centre defense, he might be the one to captain the Cobham team onto next season’s events. The club has no reason to cut him off as they carry out their incredible but risky operation of trimming the average age of the squad. However, the former England captain seems to have lost all favor with the new England coach evident from the recent appointment of Stevie Gerrard as captain. Tough luck but with his recent acts I think he deserved to be dethroned. He should be thankful enough he is in the squad.
A Gary Cahill-David Luiz duo will be much favored this coming season as the pair did display a very solid defense showpiece in Munich. Terry being the captain might get favor in pecking order but his services won’t be as lucrative as the two young men who played the finals. With Ivanovic at the right back, Bosingwa might revert to his bench warming tactics to allow for a more pacy and goal sighted defender to boost Ramires who is now seen as the owner of the left wing.
Moving down a bit towards the centre midfield, Obi Mikel must show his talent to maximum as the next coach will be needing a single defensive midfielder each game to allow for a more attacking minded team. Between the Nigerian and Essien the pecking order during selection needs to be clear and it very well seems the Nigerian will be more likely to be at the top.
The Russian needs a more enthusiastic Chelsea that plays entertaining soccer and this is to be implemented by the next permanent coach. With the Champions league trophy already in the cabinet, the next manager will be majorly tasked with the duty of ensuring the playing style is entertaining like Barcelona’s and the team consists of youthful players. It night seem not-so-hard a task but the reality on the ground is that a task like that can make you fail your main objective of clinching a silverware and thus ruin your relationship with the owner. It is a herculean task that needs a very experienced coach to slowly but surely make the transition a success.
Scouting for a quality manager is top on the club’s list with Di Matteo being favorite. The Italian has shown some good leadership qualities as he literally picked the blues from ruins as they were just about to crash out of the Champions league and were already out of the top four bracket. He managed to bring sanity back to the club with crucial wins that ensured the club did not slip any further than position six and the ultimate being the finals of the UEFA. A huge test for him that was Barcelona, Di Matteo proved his worth as he thrashed the Catalans to ensure the Russian is on the Munich stands on 19th May.
The Russian has proved to have some little form of belief in the Italian as it is highly speculated that Di Matteo will be handed a one year contract as a test while Guardiola is still being reached out to incase the Italian does no good. Di Matteo’s ultimate test will be to find a good Drogba-replacement to ensure the goal arsenal is still good to go. It will either be Torres, Kalou, Lukaku or Sturridge but the Italian must work smart and really fast.
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