coming in your pants. From The Time Wed 10 October 2012:

This his is a sentence I never expected to write: Chelsea are playing football from the heavens. They are the standout team of the season, not only in terms of points, but also in terms of aesthetics. Some of their play has illuminated the league as profoundly as anything we have seen from Arsenal or Manchester United in recent years. Roman Abramovich, who has always valued beauty as much as trophies, must tie rubbing his eyes in disbelief. The irony is not lost on Chelsea fans. The owner hesitated to offer Roberto Di Matteo the manager's job this summer, despite an astonishing sequence of results that culminated in a memorable triumph in the Champions-League, for a simple reason: he hoped to persuade Pep Guardiola to put his sabbatical on hold and reinvent Chelsea along the lines of Barcelona, from the academy all the way to the first team. Guardiola refused (it was always an unrealistic offer) and Di Matteo took the job in the certain knowledge that he was, at best, second choice. It must have been galling for the Italian given the turnaround under his stewardship after the sacking of AVB. But with shrewd purchases, and a breathtaking change of tactical perspective, he has transformed the modus operandi of one of Europe's biggest clubs. This is astonishing, not least because of what had gone-before. Under Jose Mourinho, Chelsea were deadly (and, in their way, impressive) but they were also utilitarian. The emphasis on organisation and discipline at times stifled the creativity of an otherwise excellent squad. Much of the relationship breakdown between the Portuguese and the Russian centred on a basic philosophical difference. Mourinho wanted a team who won football matches. Abramovich wanted a team who also stirred the passions. The resilience of Chelsea reached its zenith, somewhat ironically, under Di Matteo. The semi-final victory over Barcelol1a, perhaps the most miraculous by an English side in Europe (particularly after the sending-off ofJohn Terry) was an exercise in sustained, almost demented, doggedness. At times, Chelsea's defiance attained a kind of paradoxical beauty (of the type Brad Gilbert might appreciate). We might have supposed, after that memorable night, that Di Matteo would attempt to build on this methodology. After all, it had just defeated the most revered team in the world. But instead of going in search of an even more rigorous tactical antidote to the team now coached by Tito Vilanova, Di Matteo has attempted to emulate them. When Alan Shearer said on Match of the Day that Chelsea are the Barcelona of the Barclays Premier League, he was being deadly, serious. Some will argue that it is a flash in the pan. And it is perfectly possible that the wheels will come off (the unpredictability of football is its greatest blessing). But there can be no doubting Di Matteo's objective. After a sequence of games that have dazzled the senses (the third goal against Norwich City on Saturday was a particular gem), this can only be described as the application of a new philosophy. Juan Mata, in particular, has been outstanding. He is almost good enough to make the Spain first team, which is as grand a compliment as you can pay to a midfielder (when you consider he is up against Iniesta, Xavi, Alonso, Silva, Fabregas, Busquets, Arteta, Cazorla, etc: have any national team in history boasted such strength in depth?). Oscar and Eden Hazard, too, have demonstrated imagination, flair and an audacious desire to twist the blood of opposition defenders. But this is about more than a few playmakers. There have been moments this season when Chelsea, as an entire unit (with, perhaps, a couple of exceptions), have taken visible enjoyment in the creation of space and intricate patterns of movement. They seem to be taking pleasure in art for its own sake, in the way that Arsenal, at their best, often do, and Barcelona always do.-This ought to convince us that Chelsea are in a process of genuine and possibly irrevocable reinvention. And yet, as with the turnaround last season, Di Matteo does not seem to be getting much credit. This is rather curious given the prevailing obsession with managers in this country. When a team do well, we tend to eulogise the man on the touchline. And when a team do badly, we bay for his castration. This has long been part and parcel of the pantomime of English football. So why does it not seem to apply to Di Matteo? Had Guardiola presided over this set ofperformances at Chelsea, he would doubtless be on the verge of footballing canonisation (you can almost hear the drooling commentary). And we can be quite certain (from multiple precedents) that had Di Matteo overseen a poor start to the season, he would be on the verge of unemployment. Is it any wonder that the Italian is looking so bemused in his press conferences, fielding questions about Twitter and allegations of racism instead of plaudits about his own putative brilliance? Whatever else we may say about Chelsea (the behaviour of their players, the source of the money that bankrolls the club and much else besides) we cannot question the quality that they are producing on the pitch. At the very least, neutrals have the inestimable pleasure of another English team iutent on playing the beautiful game. They are not yet Barcelona (who is?), but under Di Matteo's guidance the direction of travel is as unmistakable as it is thrilling.

Is the paragraph button broken at the Times or something?

Wouldn't go as far as him but coming from media this is a new.

Has been a good start but like evissy I would not go so far, a few bad results against Spurs and United and there will be calls for Robbie's head and for us to shore up the defensive work.

Is the paragraph button broken at the Times or something?

My fault, I extracted the text from a scanned copy of the newspaper page and forgot to reformat it and now it doesn’t let me edit it.

By the way the author is Matthew Syed

Surely a Chelsea fan lol?

We've played some good football, but also had large periods of mediocrity...big tests to come, we'll see how we look then.

That said, not going to turn my nose up at positive press for the club.

love that...finally RDM and the players are receiving due credit for this sexy football....

Tough read (paragraphs would have been good), but a good read.

Edited October 10, 201213 yr by Arq

When Alan Shearer said on Match of the Day that Chelsea are the Barcelona of the Barclays Premier League, he was being deadly, serious

When I heard Shearer say this on MOTD, I thought - what a cheeky twat, we are the 1 club that Barca shudder about when drawn against us.

More accurately - Barcelona are the Chelsea of La Liga (on a good day)

Obviously there's a long way to go and consistency is something we need to find but with so many new players and a huge change in style the Author is right to say RDM deserves huge credit.

Just being at the right end of the table in a first seaon without Didier Drogba even at this early stage is testament to his tactical awareness and to have the tightest defence, most Goals and most points while lowering the overall age of the squad, giving time to some younger players and bringing new players into the team almost as certain starters shows what he is capable of.

I think Robbie has been excellent and has shown intelligence and guts in equal measures while keeping the players on side and letting the younger players see there is hope for them if they take their chances.

Very happy with the way hes shaping the team and overjoyed we're actually challenging while hes doing it.

with paragraphs

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/praise-lacking-as-roberto-di-matteos-blues-sparkle/story-fncjqghj-1226493178637

I think it's excellent.

Why not let Robbie and the team bask a bit? They deserve it, i think we have been scintillating at times this season. ::clap2:: to the Chels

Alan

Basking leads to complacency, we've got to keep focused on tougher challenges ahead.

I think getting United out of the way early is great for us schedule wise, although it does come off the back of what should prove to be a tough away trip in Europe. Like Arsenal, I think United are there for the taking at the moment, particularly at the bridge, which hasn't been a happy ground for them over the years. If our midfield lives up to it's billing and form, and Mikel has a solid performance, I can see us controlling the middle of the park easily enough.

The team do of course deserve a ton of credit for the way they've started the season, I didn't expect it a couple of months ago and it's been very encouraging. It would be remiss of us to get too far ahead of ourselves, but we have every reason to be optimistic.

These next three games are crucial, and I'm sure Robbie will give a slew of players a break in the league cup fixture that follows them. With the club world cup on the horizon it simply isn't a competition we should be focusing on at the expense of the league or Europe, even if it is United. That said, back to back victories over them would really be a big statement.

I refuse to believe Matthew Syed wrote that

It's a load of crap anyway based on assumption. Basically because we have players with a bit of flair, Chelsea is Barcelona.

As a team, we're still not playing very different to last season.

We've officially made it! Joining the heralded company of other Diet Barceloné such as Arsenal, Swansea, and of course Bolton when they scored a few well-worked goals in 2010!

In all seriousness though, lowest common-denominator journalism aside, it is nice to have an entirely positive piece on our club

Key part of the article was the very good point that Robbie really isn't being given the credit this early-season form deserves, because as any journalist will tell us, any winter slump will be largely down to his inexperience, lack of tactical nous and of course failure to control the dressing room (despite there only being 3 of 'the troublesome old guard' left, seriously what will the red-tops write about once JT & co. have moved on?)

I'm sounding a bit too cynical now tbh, because yeah, really nice recognition of the job Robbie's done so far, away from the on-pitch stuff he seems a great guy and is a brilliant ambassador for the club too (as a lot of our 1990's guys seem to be)

Next 2 months are the big tests obviously, but it's a nice thought that we could have our own Pep as opposed to just taking Barca's

My fault, I extracted the text from a scanned copy of the newspaper page and forgot to reformat it and now it doesn’t let me edit it.

By the way the author is Matthew Syed

Many thanks for posting. A good read, but still OTT.

The semi-final victory over Barcelol1a

Not seen them called that before!

That our third goal against Norwich last week was the most beautiful and technical goal I've seen CFC score in a while. Surely a joy to watch. This means that now we can actually play through defences cleverly as opposed to the detect style we used to employ. I'm loving this new Chelsea..

That our third goal against Norwich last week was the most beautiful and technical goal I've seen CFC score in a while. Surely a joy to watch. This means that now we can actually play through defences cleverly as opposed to the detect style we used to employ. I'm loving this new Chelsea..