Good times at the Bridge: Chelsea have made a 100
per cent start to the season
Twenty-five goals in six games, 100 per cent start to
the season and playing attractive attacking football - Chelsea are
the team on everyone's lips at the moment.
Long gone are the defensive - but successful - methods of a
certain Special One and instead the Stamford Bridge faithful are
being treated to Carlo Ancelotti's brand of Italian style.
But can we ever learn to love Chelsea?
I’m loving watching
Chelsea at the moment — they’re
electrifying.
They’re mirroring the
image of Ancelotti, who was a top player, is a top coach and a top
man.
Some players’ on
and off-field behaviour put a lot of people off. Let’s not get
carried away, though, their season starts now with Man City,
Marseille and Arsenal up next.
Love might be too strong a word but we can admire
them.
They were the ‘enemies of football’ because of Mourinho’s
rows but Abramovich deserves credit for the way he has tackled that
image problem.
Ancelotti is far more charming and the football his team
play is more adventurous, too.
And if we are jealous of clubs for their wealth, hasn’t the
focus now shifted to Manchester City?
Chelsea are certainly more
loveable than during the Jose Mourinho era.
The Special One provided great
soundbites but his arrogance and workmanlike tactics won few
admirers.
Ancelotti’s amenable personality
and attractive football have changed attitudes.
Outsiders may never grow to
love them but there’s no reason to loathe them
anymore.
Reasons to warm to Chelsea are emerging: enduring stars,
lots of goals, homegrown starlets, Carlo Ancelotti.
Reasons to dislike them are disappearing: unnecessary clumsy
boasts are down, Peter Kenyon has gone and Man City have seized
their mantle as transfer market bullies.
But love them? That’s a big commitment. Who truly loves two
clubs?
It is hard not to admire a team
that can roll sides over as convincingly as Chelsea.
Personally, I never warmed to
them under Jose Mourinho and Peter Kenyon. They had a strut back
then that they hadn’t earned. Recently, though, I have
softened.
They are not the only team in
Europe to spend big on players. I will never love them. Why would
I? But they do deserve our respect.
Probably not, but I could develop a soft spot for them, if
they keep playing the way they are.
The old stifling efficiency under Mourinho has given way to
flair and freedom.
As a lifelong devotee of non-League Altrincham, where you
pay £13 and feel part of the proceedings, I should have a natural
aversion to any big-time Charlies from London.
But anyone who enjoys football played with pace and power
would have to warm to this Chelsea team.
Unlikely. You can admire the
ruthless efficiency, as we have in other sports, but that’s as far
as it goes.
The secretive Abramovich, the
scheming Kenyon and brooding Mourinho gave Chelsea a slightly
sinister air which has lingered despite the changes in
personnel.
Cole, Terry and Drogba may be
fine players but they are unlikely to win many popularity
contests.
