Blues tipped to struggle without the 'special one'
LONDON: Jose Mourinho's departure from Chelsea sent shockwaves through English football yesterday with fans, pundits and former players virtually unanimous in predicting that the club's fortunes would nosedive as a result.
Mourinho's pragmatic approach to the game was at the root of Roman Abramovich's disillusionment with his club's performances but, after five trophies in three seasons, nobody could dispute that it was effective.
Now the fear is that Chelsea's bid to reclaim the Premier League title from Manchester United could have been fatally compromised by the upheaval at Stamford Bridge.
The former Chelsea and England midfielder Ray Wilkins said he was "absolutely astounded" by developments while another former Chelsea player, Gavin Peacock, said it would be hard for new manager Avram Grant to forge the kind of bond with the players that was a crucial part of the club's success under Mourinho.
"I think that half the team will have been affected badly and it's going to be hard to get that team spirit that Jose managed to manufacture," Peacock said.
Mourinho had a particularly close relationship with Frank Lampard and the future of the England midfielder, whose talks with the club on a new contract are currently deadlocked, will inevitably be thrown into doubt following the departure of a manager he regarded as something of a mentor.
Wilkins said Chelsea had lost a manager with a credible claim to be regarded as the best in the business on the strength of his UEFA Cup and Champions League triumphs with FC Porto and his success in breaking Arsenal and Manchester United's dominance in England.
"Winning football matches is what the game's about and he is a winning manager who puts a winning mentality in players' heads and they go and win things," Wilkins said.
Former England manager Graham Taylor said Mourinho's fate was sealed at the start of last season, when Abramovich insisted on bringing in 'galacticos' Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko against the manager's wishes.
"Once you take away the authority the manager has in signing players, you're on a slippery slope," Taylor said.
AFP
(China Daily 09/21/2007 page23)
