TWM columnist, and lifelong Chelsea fan, James Klonowski delivers us his take on the myth surrounding Roman Abramovich and the ruthless undeserving sacking of elite football managers in his near two-decade reign at Stamford Bridge.
Following the somewhat brutal sacking of Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager almost two weeks ago, the British media have gone into overdrive on how unforgiving Roman Abramovich is when demanding instant success and sacking those in charge of the vastly expensive onfield talent as things take even the slightest of wrong turns.
The average lifespan of a Chelsea manager under Abramovich is roughly 15 months, give or take an FA Cup or two. That’s not a long time to implement a winning style of football, integrate the academy players into the fold and play an attractive game on the pitch. The man at the helm trusted to do all that currently is former PSG and Dortmund head honcho, Thomas Tuchel, aka, a likeable Jürgen Klopp. So far, so good.
The first game was a goalless draw with Wolves at the Bridge which saw Chelsea break the record for a number of passes completed and a number of people switching channels… Next up saw his new 5-3-2 system work wonders by completely dominating a decent Burnley side, winning 2-0, stopping the opposition from having a shot on target for the second consecutive game in the process.
Spurs was is the real test, and if you believe the media, he’ll be under pressure if he fails to win. It’s rubbish, and I’m going to tell you why. Every manager under Roman deserved to get sacked! Still don’t believe me? Read on and you soon will.