With Benitez not on the top of his game, and with Chelsea on a downward spiral since winning 7 of their first 8 games of the season, many fans and former players have been voicing their discontent at Abramovich’s decision to fire Di Matteo. It seems that the Russian club owner has made a lot of poor decisions in his time spent financing the Blues. His latest decision is the most analyzed and the most criticized especially considering the fact that the former Chelsea player managed to finally win trophies bringing the Champions League Cup and the FA Cup to Stamford Bridge.
The most recent piece of criticism comes from former Chelsea player Dan Petrescu, who also was Di Matteo’s teammate during his time with the Blues. When asked about Chelsea’s current situation the Romanian, who is now coaching Dynamo Moscow, implied that Abramovich made a big mistake firing Di Matteo back in November. Although he had an 8 match win-free streak, Petrescu said that winning the Champions League was not a fluke so he should have been given more credit and shown a lot more confidence.
Chelsea’s former defender/winger also said that Di Matteo is an excellent coach and the treatment he received from Abramovich was quite inappropriate. Petrescu added that he saw no point in sacking the former Chelsea player who was giving his all for the team, in order to bring in former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez who has signed a short term agreement.
Benitez is now the 8th coach to manage Chelsea since the Russian investor took over. So far, Abramovich managed to push away some of the best coaches in the world. He fired Mourinho after Chelsea had the best three years of its existence because they did not have the same philosophy when it came to football. He also sacked Ancelotti and had no patience whatsoever with one of the fastest rising coaches in the world – Andre Villas-Boas.
Recent rumors say that Mourinho is going to come back to Chelsea at the end of the season but it all depends on how his relationship with Real Madrid unfolds. One thing is certain, Benitez is not going to be here for the next season of the Premier League, not with Chelsea at least.