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Finally,
they’ve done it. A season that looked to be disastrous under Andres Villas-Boas
ends with Chelsea winning the double under Roberto Di Matteo.
At
times, it wasn’t pretty. Organised and resolute defending where the team knew
their strengths and weaknesses, or negative football – call it what you like,
it’s effective. Chelsea have won the Champions League, beating the mighty
Barcelona on the way as well as Napoli, Benfica and Bayern Munich.
They’ve
had their graft and determination greeted by luck, but you make your own luck.
Bayern had 43 shots on goal to Chelsea’s 9, but 22 of Bayern’s were blocked;
even the most stout believer in defensive positioning coming before overplayed
heroics would have to admit that that is fantastic defending. Gary Cahill and
David Luiz were incredible, while Ashley Cole put in a Man of the Match
performance, putting to bed (ahem) the claims that he’s finished as a
top-flight full-back.
There
were horrible Munich misses, with Mario Gomez perhaps the worst perpetrator.
But Chelsea had an effect on some of those misses – pressure on players
contributes to them snatching at shots, bodies flying in puts an attacker off.
Stats won’t show that. They did have their luck, though – they’re lucky that
Arjen Robben’s penalty in extra-time was dreadful. It really did just feel like
it was their night.
Of
course, the only stat that really matters is this: Bayern Munich 1 – 1 Chelsea
after 90 minutes.
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| Munich (picture from Markus Unger on Flickr) |
The
way the game was played was no real surprise; Bayern set out to retain the
ball, keep possession and keep creating chances. Chelsea set out to frustrate
and then counter, just as they did against Barca. They were organised and they
did have periods of slight domination.
And
yet, after winning the FA Cup and the Champions League, Di Matteo’s full-time job
at the club – we’re
told – is still not set in stone for next season.
Roman
Abramovich has always wanted the Champions League, and now he’s got it. He
apparently also wants the style to go with the winning; he wants to be
entertained. Fine. Give Di Matteo the chance to bring in his own players, as
this is still Villas-Boas’ side. Allow him to build his squad, implement the
style that Roman wants and keep that winning feeling.
Cahill,
Luiz, Bertrand and Mikel have all now played in a Champions League final and won.
Ramires and Daniel Sturridge have played large roles in a victorious campaign.
Petr Cech, Juan Mata, John Terry and Frank Lampard are all winners of the
highest regard. Marko Marin is coming in in the summer, as will others no
doubt. These are the foundations. They can win ugly, now give Di Matteo a
season or two to make it pretty.
There
were plenty of signs of good, attractive, intelligent play from Chelsea on
Saturday night. There were periods where they seemed to attack at will – maybe Bayern
allowed them to come out a little so that they could then counter, but it didn’t
work all that well as Robben, Franck Ribery and Gomez all had poor games
(partly due to Chelsea’s defending).
One
move in particular showed that Chelsea can strut with the best of them: a low
cross was met with a cheeky backheel from Drogba on the edge of the box;
Lampard squared it intelligently for Salomon Kalou, who tested Manuel Neuer at
his near post.
The
late equaliser, though, after Thomas Muller had stolen in at the back post to
give Munich the lead, had no perceived grace about it. A thunderous header from
a thunderous man who cut a forlorn figure for most of the game but didn’t once
show any sign of frustration. He chased, he harried, he lost out most of the
time – but Didier Drogba knew his role. He would get his chance eventually, and
good God did he take it.
And
with what was possibly his last kick for Chelsea, he crowned them champions of
Europe.
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| Drogba celebrates (picture from rayand on Flickr) |
The
post-match celebrations seem to irk a few which, with Twitter in its default
setting of OUTRAGE, was no real surprise. EVERYTHING John Terry does is AWFUL,
of course. ALL. THE. TIME. Terry decided to celebrate in his full Chelsea kit which
he must have been wearing under his suit, which he was wearing in the stands
due to his suspension.
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| John Terry (picture from Ronnie Macdonald on Flickr) |
Terry
wasn’t the only player to do this – the other players who were banned also did
it, but they came in for significantly less criticism (i.e. none) than the
former England captain did. Given that Terry isn’t a likeable human being in
any way, it’s hardly surprising, yet the internet’s insistence that he shouldn’t
lift the trophy was ever so slightly baffling.
The
Champions League isn’t just won in the final, and Terry has played a magnificent
part in the European campaign, not to mention some outstanding performances in
other competitions this season. John Terry, to be blunt – and putting Liverpool
to one side for the moment – has been fantastic this season.
So
when his club, a club he has been with for over seventeen years and a club he
has made more than 300 league appearances for, wins the Champions League, he’s
allowed to be a little bit happy about it. His actions in the semi-final that
brought him the red card were unjustifiable but that doesn’t mean he should be
stopped from performing his duty as captain in lifting the trophy.
And
the Roy Keane comparison is pretty nonsensical, as people are allowed to do
things differently and that doesn’t make them wrong. Just as Terry’s actions
could be interpreted as arrogant and twattish, Keane could be seen as a
miserable, self-centred sod who didn’t want to celebrate with his team on one
their defining nights. Cheer up, Roy – it’s not all about you.
Congratulations
Chelsea – Champions League winners 2012.
Main picture from
rayand on Flickr.
