Former Chelsea player and coach Roberto di Matteo, who was in charge of the Blues when they won the UEFA Champions League by beating Bayern Munich on penalties at the German club’s Allianz Arena in 2012, said that he hopes current boss Jose Mourinho remains at the helm for a long time.
The Portuguese has come under severe pressure for the way the English Premier League champions have started the season, plunging to fifth from bottom having lost seven of their opening 12 games.
“I really hope Mourinho is going to stay long term, stability is so important for the club,” Italian Di Matteo said.
Photo: Reuters
“We have short memories, but only four months ago we won the double,” added the former midfielder as he attended the opening of a new ice cream parlor in London part-owned by former teammate Gianfranco Zola.
Di Matteo, who had a six-year playing spell at Chelsea from 1996 to 2002, took over as interim coach when former boss Andre Villas-Boas was sacked in March 2012, and led the club to Champions League and FA Cup final glory two months later.
The Italian then had a short spell in charge of Schalke 04 before he was fired by the Bundesliga team five months ago.
Zola, who was appointed coach of Qatari side al-Arabi in July, agreed that Chelsea are too good to struggle for long.
“There is one compelling reason for the poor start to the season,” the former Italy striker said. “The poor form of key offensive players Eden Hazard and Diego Costa has not helped.”
“Defensively as well, the team has dropped the standards set last year, so the players have lost confidence as a group and this has led to poor results. The club has it in them to turn around their fortunes,” Zola added.
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