It's tempting to look at Abramovich's zillions and see no end to Chelsea's domination of English football. But as much as I deplore that crook's entry into our game, I refuse to see a future that's just wall-to-wall Chelsea triumph. Why? Because although their money is talking louder than anyone's has ever done before in football, the last word in football belongs - and has always belonged - to the 22 fellas on the pitch. Remember - Chelsea win games by one goal margins. Very occasionally by something bigger. They are not, at least on the football field, as domineering as Arsenal were a couple of seasons back. With that in mind I offer these 3 reasons for optimism:
1. Great managers are defined in part by how they react to adversity. Mourinho, in his short managerial career, has yet to taste failure. But one day he will. I got to say I wonder how someone as psychologically brittle and with such an obvious inferiority complex as Mourinho will respond when the big setback comes. And it will come. Last season, after Arsenal shipped 3 goals at Tottenham, he went on record to say that if one of his teams ever let in 3 goals he'd stop the game. It was a comment that was intended to humiliate Arsenal. But really it spoke volumes about his own weird state of mind. (Imagine what Mourinho would have done if his team had been 3-0 down at Istanbul). One day his team will concede 3, or perhaps 4. Maybe we'll do it to him next week. Let's see what happens to the Special One then.
2. Chelsea's large squad is happy now. Sort of. Already this season Carvalho and Cole have griped to the press about not playing enough games. Well what happens when things begin to go wrong? Getting splinters in your arse from too much sitting on the bench is just about ok if someone slings a medal around your undeserving neck at the end of the season. But will Chelsea continue to be able to maintain such a fabulous squad if they go a season without winning anything? Of course, the answer is no.
3. Finally, how will Abramovich himself respond to a trophy-less season. Or two on the trot? We simply don't know. There'll be a huge cash-injection, obviously. But if that doesn't work? My guess is that he will run Chelsea FC like he has run his semi-legal business operations - ruthlessly. Ranieri got the chop after Chelsea's best season since 1955. Mourinho, for all his success so far, is probably in one of the most insecure jobs in the Premier League.
So we shouldn't despair. Let's keep the pressure on the c*nts - starting at Anfield next week.
