Roman Is Restless & Chelsea Are Suffering For It

A week on from that fateful afternoon in Zurich, the inquest to England’s failure to land the 2018 FIFA World Cup rages on and the debate as to how we can protest in the face of the last week’s vote is underway.

Prodigal Arsenal midfielder, Jack Wilshere made his stand to FIFA on Twitter, exclaiming that president, Sepp Blatter“is not getting followed by me”, and an irate Adrian Durham even went as far as to suggest on his TalkSport show, that Andrei Arshavin shouldn’t be allowed back in the country for “what he done to us”, referring to the role he played in Russia’s successful bid. Durham went on to ask, “who does he think he is?”.

The captain of the Russian national team would have been the unanimous answer from rather more pragmatic listeners.

Another prominent Premier League figure in the midst of the Russian contingent sent to Zurich last week was Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich. Following the opening of the envelope by a dithering Blatter, the billionaire oligarch’s reaction was a departure from the norm, displaying a sort of enthusiasm that is seldom shown.

Forever the image of Abramovich slumped in his seat after John Terry’s slip cost his side the biggest accolade in football, will be etched on the memory. And glum expressions are what we have come to expect from him, whether it be at a bitterly cold Luzniki Stadium, the scene of the 2018 World Cup final, or in his luxury executive box at Stamford Bridge.

But after years of spoiling his Premier League play-thing with a seemingly endless pipeline of cash, a World Cup hosted in his homeland presents a new challenge to the oil rich oligarch, one that is met with refreshing vigor and fervor, based on his expressions last week.

Thirteen new stadiums are to be constructed in time for the invasion of the world’s football society in less than eight years, with revitalisation of the nation’s creaking infrastructure also a desperate precedence. Abramovich has found a new ‘play-thing’.

His involvement in Russia’s bid was a positive one, lobbying FIFA executive members for their votes, not to mention the pledging of his oil billions to the cause. However, his commandment of his club interests this season has been far from positive, and is accredited with destabilising the club this season.

The sudden departure of Ray Wilkins in November, as assistant to Carlo Ancelotti signalled the initial sign of fracture within the club, and has since sparked a spectacular drop in form.

Brandao’s late winner in Marseille last night put the spoilers on Didier Drogba’s homecoming and consigned Chelsea to their first European defeat of the season. But whilst last night’s result can be labeled as a meaningless ‘blip’ on the basis of their concrete position as Group F winners, results elsewhere have indicated a far more serious problem.

Domestically, Chelsea are currently enduring a run of four games without a win. Conceding late goals is fast becoming an inconvenient habit at Stamford Bridge and Jermaine Beckford’s last gasp equaliser on Saturday compounded a sequence which has seen them fall from top of the league pace-setters to third place chasers.

What is perhaps more worrying for Chelsea is that this ‘blip’ comes prior to a sequence of games, in which they face the other three of last season’s ‘big four’. Back when the Ancelotti/Chelsea machine were doling out 6-0, 4-0 and 4-1 thrashings, the Italian manager warned that his side would endure a ‘bad patch’ at some point.

However, most had the upcoming trio of Spurs, Man Utd and Arsenal fixtures earmarked as the potential banana skin, but instead Sunderland, Birmingham, Newcastle and Everton have derailed Chelsea’s title challeneg, taking advantage of an uncertain time at the Bridge.

But just as a boxer will look to make his comeback against the world champion (see Audley Harrison), Chelsea have an opportunity to prove their worth.

Despite rumours regarding just how secure his role at the club is coupled with personnel changes already made around him, Ancelotti insists he is the right man to lead Chelsea out of the slump.

“We have to come back. I’m not low. I’m strong. I want to resolve this quickly and I’m focused on my job. I think my players have that same focus, I’m sure they have. We have a lot of players with fantastic character and personality”.

If Ancelotti does find himself leaving the club, it will not be on his terms. Let us remember that this is a man who spent eight years under Silvio Berlusconi at AC Milan. A tiff between himself and the relatively reserved (particularly when compared with Berlusconi) Abramovich will cause mild discomfort for the Italian, nothing that will prove fatal, yet.

Last time Abramovich attempted to fix something that wasn’t broken, Chelsea lost Jose ‘The Special One” Mourinho, and with it their grip on the Premier League trophy, allowing Manchester United to resume their monopoly, that had been temporarily interrupted.

Abramovich brought Ancelotti to Chelsea on the pretense of his record in Europe. And although Ancelotti has restored the Premier League title to the club masthead, the one accolade that Abramovich craves eludes him. It is debatable whether his true passion in recent times has been Chelsea or the Champions League.

After last Thursday’s joyous scenes in Switzerland, more weight has been added to the notion that Abramovich doesn’t harbour the same passion for Chelsea as he once did. Perhaps it’s a loss of interest that has provoked the recent unrest on the King’s Road but what is certain is that Roman is restless, and Chelsea are suffering for it.