Evil Empire Demands Big Guns Up Front
Posted by Zeno in Chelsea, Roman Abronovich | 9 March 2006
If you read the quality papers – and you’re all intelligent, literate people, otherwise you’d be on the Sun website right now, not reading this – then you’ll have noticed something of the triumphalist in the tone of many sports commentators this week. How gratifying it’s been: the victory of the forces of light – or Barcelona, as their fans know them – over the evil empire that is Chelsea.
Pick up a rag today, or have a scroll through the Chelsea-related news feeds, and you’ll see a rather interesting new way of baiting José. See what you think of this headline, taken from Sporting Life.
“Abramovich tells José to buy big”
See what they did there? It’s the intimation that Roman (we’re on first name terms), sat on his cloud in a Sistine Chapel sort of way, is reading his manager the riot act. We’ve tried it your way, now I want to do it mine. I think the story originates in the Independent which, of course, doesn’t name the source.
Let’s assume, for a second, that the story has some basis in fact. The timing carries an overtone of irony, no? Just as Florentino Perez, the original proponent of the galactico transfer policy, bows out at Real Madrid after 3 trophyless seasons, so the upstart club from West London assumes the mantle. Mourinho’s policy of “no superstars” is being challenged at the highest level. Bring me Adriano, Shevchenko, Eto’o, Henry… anyone, dammit. I’m one of the ten richest men in the world. I own three boats. It’s no big deal. What IS a big deal is the big empty space in the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet that we set aside for the Champions’ League cup. You’ve been hired to bring me silverware. The one I really want still eludes us.
Mourinho’s public persona is of a proud, outspoken man. The tone here is designed, I suggest, to needle him. He’s run rings around the hacks at his press conferences, and now they’ve decided they don’t like him. If you read the Guardian, you’ll have noticed Richard Williams (a journalist that I respect) being particularly poisonous in recent weeks. He’s a wielder of the stiletto, not the sledgehammer, but his agenda is clear for those that would see it.
The issue surrounding playmaker versus striker is a still a live one. These reports would seem to suggest that the debate has been settled internally. Could Chelsea’s rigid structure accommodate a player like Ronaldinho?
With Adriano or Shevchenko in the side, does it matter?
