After seeing Chelsea’s sorry, pitiful performance against Manchester United at Old Trafford, I am sure helpless Chelsea fans are wondering what the deal is with finding a the permanent replacement for Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.  Lets see…  you fire your coach after winning 2 Premiership titles, 1 FA Cup and 2 League Cups in 3 years.   Will there be anything permanent with the new coach ?  Roman Abramovich is another rich owner that clearly has no clue about football / soccer .   The Chelsea slide is only just beginning.

Here’s whom I have heard as possible replacements and my thoughts:

Jürgen Klinsmann:  Klinsmann’s incredible playing career got him the Germany national team job for the 2006 World Cup.  While he was hailed by the German faithful as doing a great job finsihing 3rd and saving German soccer, I saw it a little different.  In the 2002 World Cup led by Rudi Voller, they finished 2nd.  Does anyonre remember that ?  Yet, no one hailed Voller as a hero like they did Klinsmann.  My point here is he has done nothing as a coach, to show me he can be an effective coach Chelsea given his performance with Germany in the 2006 World Cup.

Marco van Basten:  Same as Klinsmann ..  incredible player, in fact one of my favorites, but as a coach, just has not proven it with Holland who with their talent, should be one of the best in the world.  Not only has the national team under his leadership under achieved, but he has formed bad relationships with several of the top Dutch players, some of whom have either been prematurely dropped or have refused to play with Van Basten as manager.  This is not what you want from a manager of a top club.  You need a manager that want to play and win for you at all cost.  Van Basten is not the answer.

Guus Hiddink:  At this point, of all the names of possible successors, Hiddink is by far the best candidate.  Most recently, he has been successful with South Korea leading them to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup, leading PSV Eindhoven to the semi-finals of the Champions League while managing the Australian national team thru 2006 World Cup qualifying.  Currently, has Russia in contention of qualifying for Euro 2008.   Hiddink seems to find a way to get the best of out his plaers and he has a proven winning record.  Also, he seems to have a good relationship with dumbass Abramovich which doesn’t hurt.

I am stunned at the firing of Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.  What are they thinking ?  In 3 years, Mourinho has won every domestic trophy including 2 English Premiership titles, but unfortunately could not bring home a Champions League title.  What more do you expect?  Yeah, Chelsea is off to a bad start, but my goodness…  Give Mourniho a break.  Hasn’t he earned that ?

Chelsea has spent in excess of $100 million to bring in world-class players and bring the club from average to one of the best in the world.  In 3 years, Chelsea has accomplished more than it ever has in its history.   When you are an owner who has spent that much money, you expect to win the Premiership and the Champions League every year.  Good luck trying to find another coach that achieve as much as Mourniho has in his 3+ years.

 Whats wrong with Chelsea?  Look no further than some their big name signings of Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack the past 2 years.  I can understand the signing of a star striker like Shevchenko from AC Milan as Chelsea has desperately been looking for a complement up front to Drogba.  Unfortunately, for whatever reason, he has struggled to fit into Chelsea’s system and the style of play in the Premiership which is so much different than the slow and boring Seria A.    Ballack, I never understood this signing as Chelsea had plenty of talented midfielders. 
The super-talented Michael Essien was playing as a defender for most of last year to make room for Ballack in midfleid which is ridiculous!

 I can see Chelsea on its way back down to mediocrity in the Premiership and as an Arsenal fan, I could not be happier!!  Go Gunners!!!