Chelsea interim manager Roberto Di Matteo, fresh off a club-unprecedented FA Cup and Champions League double, will soon take a well-deserved vacation with his family in the Caribbean. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has yet to offer the man who has brought him what he most wanted a long-term contract. Di Matteo deserves to bask in the glow of his accomplishments, not sweat over his future.

When Di Matteo returns from holiday, he should make one last charge to his club account, rent a Maybach Landaulet, drive out to Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham, withdraw his name from consideration, then cruise off with the top down humming along to Steve Miller’s “Take the Money and Run.”

Why? Because Abramovich may afford Di Matteo a year on the job. Di Matteo, with the Champions League on his CV, can do better for himself elsewhere.

Consider:

-One arched eyebrow from Pep Guardiola and Abramovich would be all over him like sour cream on a blintz

-No European Cup/Champions League winner has repeated since Arrigo Sacchi’s powerhouse AC Milan clubs of 1989 and 1990 featuring Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Frank Rijkaard, Marco Van Basten, and Ruud Gullit. As impressive as Chelsea’s wins over Napoli, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich were, it is unfathomable to think they can pull off such a miracle run again next season, despite the incentive of the 2013 final being held at Wembley.

-A top four finish will be especially hard to achieve next season. Gone are the days of the Big Four; when the only drama before each season was finding out which top four league spot each club would slot into. Manchester City, with their willingness to absorb monumental financial losses, is here to stay. Manchester United has a young developing core to pair with the likes of Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney. Arsene Wenger always finds a way to keep Arsenal near the top, if not at it, and will likely still have the best striker in the league in RVP. Newcastle showed it has the talent, heart, and flair to compete for a top four spot. Liverpool’s Boston brahmin owners have the ambition and the money to make quick changes. Tottenham faces perhaps the toughest challenge of all should they lose Gareth Bale and Luka Modric, but never underestimate Harry Redknapp. So even if Chelsea improve on 2011-12, they may be on the outside looking in come next May.

-What makes next season so difficult is the rebuilding job that is clearly needed. Andre Villas-Boas, disastrous run aside, was right to sound the alarm. Didier Drogba, Chelsea’s fourth all-time leading scorer, all-time leading scorer in Europe and a money player in the clutch, is already gone. Key players such as John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Juan Mata, Raul Meireles, Gary Cahill, and Flourent Malouda will not have a proper rest because of Euro 2012. And Chelsea has already seen the best days of Terry, Lampard, Malouda, and Michael Essien. Fernando Torres, no longer a “niño”, hasn’t inspired confidence that he is ready to fill the void left by Drogba.

-Even if Abramovich sells one of his yachts to restock the squad with new glittering jewels from the continent, it will take time for a new-look club to click, as Manchester City has shown with their failure in the Champions League and leaving the Premier League title until the 94th minute of the season. And time is not a commodity that Abramovich is generous with.

Add it all up, and Di Matteo faces an unappetizing platter of high expectations, a roster in transition, and little patience from the boss. Rather than one year and done in 2012-13, Di Matteo would do better by taking his services elsewhere. He won’t want for offers.

In an exclusive interview with Chelsea TV, Didier Drogba has recorded a 90 second message to say goodbye and thank you to Chelsea supporters around the world.

“Thank you for giving me the chance to show what I was able to do,” said Drogba, in a sincere and heartfelt message. “Thank you for supporting me when I was struggling here.”

Didier Drogba will always be remembered as one of the best strikers ever in the Premier League. The Ivory Coast striker joined Chelsea in 2004 from Marseille in a deal reported to be worth £24 million. Since then, Drogba has repaid Chelsea in so many ways, winning three Premier League titles, one Champions League trophy, four FA Cup trophies, two League Cup trophies and two Community Shield honors.

Farewell Didier Drogba. We will miss you.

Every year, for the past few seasons, we’ve done a Premier League prediction table where I and you, the readers, make our picks on how the final Premier League table will look at the end of the season. The picks are made in August, so it’s often a tough call to make especially since new transfer signings haven’t had much time to bed in at all. Plus, managerial changes don’t often happen until late in the year.

Nevertheless, here’s how we did. My predicted end of the season table was as follows:

1. Manchester United (C)
2. Manchester City
3. Chelsea
4. Liverpool
5. Arsenal
6. Sunderland
7. Tottenham Hotspur
8. Fulham
9. Everton
10. Newcastle United
11. Aston Villa
12. Stoke City
13. West Bromwich Albion
14. Swansea
15. Norwich City
16. Wolverhampton Wanderers
17. Bolton Wanderers
18. Wigan Athletic (R)
19. Queens Park Rangers (R)
20. Blackburn Rovers (R)

And here were your picks.

I came close to predicting the champions correctly — if Aguero hadn’t scored, I would have had my first and second pick correctly. Chelsea finishing in sixth instead of third place was a shock, but who could have predicted that Andre Villas-Boas would have done so badly at Stamford Bridge? Liverpool’s eighth place finish was a shock. I really thought that Dalglish could have steered them to fourth based on the talent at their disposal. Arsenal took advantage of Chelsea and Liverpool’s poor league form by finishing in third, despite me picking them to finish in fifth position.

I thought Sunderland was going to be the surprise team this season based on the amount of money that Ellis Short spent in the transfer window, but who could have predicted that Steve Bruce could have done so badly at the Stadium of Light? I should have swapped Sunderland and Newcastle around for a better prediction.

At the bottom of the table, most of us could see the writing on the wall that Blackburn Rovers was doomed under Steve Kean, so I predicted they would finish in last place. Under Neil Warnock, I didn’t rate QPR, and based on the way they were playing, they would have gone down if it wasn’t for Mark Hughes. I also predicted Wigan would get relegated, but I was wrong on that one.

I believed in Swansea and Norwich, so I put them at 14th and 15th position — yet they did even better than my predictions by finishing 11th and 12th. I’m particularly proud of my Swansea prediction because almost everyone — pundits and fans — predicted that Swansea would get relegated.

Here’s the final Premier League table to compare.

As for the picks from you, the readers, many of you predicted that Newcastle would get relegated, Liverpool would finish in first, second or third place, and Swansea would finish bottom. Manchester United, like me, was the most predicted champion.

Of the readers who made their prediction between August and September, the person who came the closest was a reader named Bob.

Interestingly, very few people picked Manchester City to win the title before the end of August, and we all (myself included) were all over the place regarding the bottom three. No one who posted a comment in August or September predicted the correct three relegated sides.

If you have some time to go back through the 156+ comments, they make for some very interesting reading.

I hope you enjoyed the Premier League table prediction game. We’ll open a new one up for the 2012-13 season in early August.

While reading the article about Chelsea not winning any admirers from their Champions League victory over Bayern, I found it interesting that the author made several points about how Chelsea failed to play with “style,” employing “negative tactics” that aren’t appealing to people who truly love the game or neutrals alike. While I’ll agree that Chelsea’s tactics were extremely defensive and may not have been pleasing for the bulk of the match, to claim that the game itself was not appealing is the ultimate in soccer snobbery.

The Champions League final is the pinnacle of European football and does not need added “style” or “flair” to help endear it to the masses. Someone was not going to watch the match based on the fact that one team plays a defensive style. The fact of the matter is that while Chelsea defended most of the game, it still had that same exciting feel to it that any final has. All the story lines that naturally come with a final were still there and were always going to be there whether both teams played extreme defense or offense. All Chelsea did was adhere to the age old American football adage that defense wins Championships.

It’s no secret that most people’s favorite part of any game is offense. Most of us love to see points go up on the board. But just because there are a lot of points scored in a game doesn’t make it more exciting. It’s common knowledge that it’s not enough to just go out and score without the ability to defend. Sure you may win some high scoring games, but more often than not you’re also going to lose a lot of games by those same high scores. Solely relying on offense is like going to a club to look for a wife. Sure you’re going to have fun and score some, but ultimately you’re not going to end up with what you’re looking for.

Chelsea could have started Fernando Torres up front with Didier Drogba and tried to go with an all out attack to appease the “purists.” But after seeing how the game played out, I think we can all agree that if they had employed that tactic, London would still be without a Champions League trophy. Sure Bayern played all out attack, peppering Chelsea with shot after shot, but in the end it was more frustrating to watch than awe inspiring because of the epic choke job players like Gomez, Robben and Muller displayed. I’d argue that the defending of Chelsea was more awe inspiring because of their sheer will and the fact they were putting their bodies on the line to prevent Bayern from missing another shot on goal. It’s not rocket science as to why Chelsea won the Champions League. They were the better team defensively and they knew it. Bayern had one corner to defend the entire game and they couldn’t do it. Chelsea defended 20 corners successfully. I don’t know about you but if I’m looking at stats from the final, that’s the one that is the most impressive to me.

When it comes down to it, every team has their own tactics they employ to try and win a match. Whether those tactic are born from the players that are available to them or the opponent they’re going to be facing that evening, ultimately you do what is going to help win your next match. Tactical flexibility is something that any successful team needs or else you end up going seven years without a trophy. The people who whine and gripe about negative football, the game losing its beauty or making the insufferable Stoke reference are generally the same people who shout from the rooftops about teams not having history. These are all statements made by people whose team was not good enough to win the competition.

When it boils down to it, the ultimate goal of any competitor is to win at all costs. No one wants to have the label “The Best that Never Won”. The players that suit up for their professional teams go out with the agenda to win at all costs. Does it mean they don’t love the game just because they have to play a more defensive style? If anything it means they love it more because they’re playing every aspect of the game. Sure, some players prefer offense more than defense, but believe it or not there are players out there who love playing defense more than offense. There are players out there who dream about keeping a clean sheet, making that vital tackle or block and expressing themselves through their defensive tenacity. Blasphemy I know, but believe it or not it’s true. People can express themselves through defense as well as offense.

The notion of winning the right way is a narrative created by fans and media to scrutinize a winning team.  There is no cowardice in opting to defend your goal nor is it an indication that you are an inferior team. If anything it’s an indication that you’ve actually done your homework, found an area where you’re stronger than your opponent and are employing a tactic that will help you succeed.

So yes, you can look at Chelsea’s victory as a win for negative, ugly, impure football. Or you can take it for what it actually was a win for tactics, defense and being better at penalty kicks. Maybe if some teams worked on those aspects of their game they wouldn’t have choked away third place and been in a situation to lose out on the final Champions League spot. Not that I’m trying to rub salt in any wounds.

I’ll end with the quote “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. I’ll take a hard fought, dirty, scrappy win over a more traditional “beautiful” loss any day. Especially when that win comes with a nice shiny trophy.

When Manchester United strode out onto the Camp Nou pitch on May 26, 1999 to contest the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, it was the first appearance by an English club in the competition’s final since the Heysel tragedy of May 29, 1985. During that gap, the tournament underwent several significant changes, including the introduction of group stages and the addition of additional qualifying clubs from the best countries.

Manchester United, along with Liverpool and Chelsea are the three English clubs to have lifted ol’ big ears in the Champions League’s modern history. Each one has won it in wildly improbable ways.

In the 1999 final, Bayern, sitting on a 1-nil lead in stoppage time, was Carl Smith in The Graduate at the altar in the Santa Barbara church about to marry Elaine Robinson. Suddenly Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer struck, and Bayern saw their prize slip away like Carl watching Ben Braddock spring from the church with his girl. Man United’s comeback was fit for a movie of its own, complete with iconic quotes from Sir Alex Ferguson – “Football. Bloody Hell.”  and then-UEFA president Lennart Johansson – “The winners were crying and the losers were dancing.”

Liverpool’s 2005 match against AC Milan in Istanbul was the club’s first appearance in the European Cup/Champions League decider since their 1-0 loss to Juventus in the Heysel final. Down three goals at the half, the odds of a Liverpool win at the interval were reportedly 250 to 1. Indefatigable, the chants from Liverpool’s huge traveling contingent resounded through the stadium through the break. Captain Steven Gerrard’s 54th minute header then sparked six unforgettable minutes of magic that crested with a young Xabi Alonso staring down Dida for a potential score-levelling penalty. Liverpool fans could be forgiven for momentarily thinking they were the victims of some grand cosmic tease when Dida saved the shot, but Alonso set off worldwide pandemonium when he raced in to put back his own shot. The victory, secured by Jerzy Dudek’s manic dancing moves, was salvation for a club that had finished behind Everton that season and had seen their place as the dominant club in England usurped by the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal in the Premier League era. Five European Cups for Liverpool, the most for any English club, and the trophy was theirs to keep permanently.

Chelsea entered Bayern Munich’s ground on Saturday as the first road team in the final since Liverpool escaped AS Roma’s Stadio Olimpico with the cup in 1984. Roman Abramovich took control of Chelsea in June of 2003. Despite considerable domestic success since then, beginning with the club’s Premier League title in 2005 (its first top division claim since 1955), Abramovich’s supreme desire has been the Champions League. The cost to be Europe’s boss has been hundreds of millions of pounds spent on players and nine managers (including caretakers). At the time of Andre Villas-Boas’ March sacking, it looked like the trophy would be Abramovich’s ‘rosebud,’ an impossible obsession that made all other success unsatisfying. Yet Chelsea’s determined defence absorbed wave after wave of Bayern attack. And George McFly doppelganger Mario Gomez made gift after gift of a fresh football to fans sitting in the upper deck high above the Chelsea goal. And Didier Drogba soared past Jerome Boateng to unleash that header. And Petr Cech denied Arjen Robben’s penalty in the first extra-time session and then stopped Ivica Olic and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the shootout to seal perhaps most improbable of the aforementioned three victories.

Which of these three Champions League comeback triumphs is the best? That’s for you to decide.

Notes: I did not include Manchester United’s win over Chelsea in 2008 as it was not as improbable and not as truly dramatic (John Terry’s miss was tragicomedy, not drama) as the other three. I also decided to concentrate on the modern Champions League era, thus excluding prior wins by Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, and Aston Villa.

Following Chelsea’s victory in the Champions League final, Europe’s collective media has fallen over itself to praise the character and resilience of their performance on the night, as well as their run in the competition which saw them topple Napoli, Benfica and Barcelona. While they are right to marvel at the improbability of their victory and their resilience, this is to forget the fact that Chelsea adopted some very negative tactics which is the antithesis of all that is good about the beautiful game.

Although the grit and fight displayed by Chelsea has to be admired, one has to lament the fact that football is now played with such a negative approach. Gone are the days when teams would just try and put as many past the opponent as possible. Teams going out and playing with reckless abandon and a childlike enjoyment of the game are truly a relic of times past.

At the 1982 World Cup, Brazil set the tournament alight with their exquisite, attacking football which mesmerised onlookers. They were expected to win the tournament because they were capable of the best play, yet were eliminated by eventual winners Italy. The Brazilians played gorgeous football but ultimately didn’t get the job done and are considered the best side to have not won the World Cup. After the match, Brazil captain Socrates declared that ‘To win is not the most important thing. Football is an art and should be showing creativity…You have to enjoy doing the art and not think, “Will I win?”.’ That encapsulates what football is really about and one can only wistfully imagine what the game would be like if everyone shared that philosophy. By all means, applaud Chelsea’s spirit and doggedness, but also feel disappointed by their lack of creative ambition.

Against Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Roberto Di Matteo’s side simply sat back deep in their own half and defended for the entire match, hoping to at some point nick a goal here or there (which they did). To do this is to admit that you are the inferior team, and that the only way you can win is to ‘steal’ it from your opponents against the run of play. This is anti-football. Bayern, to their credit, approached the game in a positive manner and tried to force the issue, and should be commended. Although they lost, Bayern entertained us. The same was true against Barcelona. In both legs the Catalans, although not at their best, enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and had virtually all of the chances. Yet Chelsea somehow, inexplicably got through. Those who love watching football must have wished they could have seen Barcelona in Champions League final, not the West Londoners.

Professional footballers are supposed to love the game. If this is true, then why do some of them not play the game the way it is meant to be played? The joy of the game is to express yourself and to be creative with the football, to do things that amaze and inspire. There are no children who dream of one day reaching the pinnacle of club football, only to hold on for dear life and wait for penalties. It’s a cowardly way to play and there’s no glory in it. Why emulate the hard-nosed rigidity of Stoke City when you can play a beautiful, fluid game like Arsenal or Real Madrid?

I wish I could end by at least saying that the club deserves the honour of winning the Champions League, but I don’t want to lie. Captain John Terry is a case study in good things happening to bad people. Aside from the racism, marital infidelity and general foulness of his character, the thing that sickened me on Saturday night was how, when his team won the match, he whipped on his Chelsea shirt, complete with ‘Terry #26’ on the back, and celebrated with his teammates as if he had just scored the winning penalty himself. How he can just disregard how his thoughtless sending off in Barcelona could have badly cost his team is beyond me. It is also hard to feel happy for the rest of the team, most of whom are only playing for Chelsea to satisfy their own greed and self-interest. Watching the Chelsea players during the trophy presentation was a laughable experience, as they jostled for a prime position at the front, and then proceeded to grab the trophy off one another so they could have their special moment with it. Although at least now Roman Abramovich has finally got his hands on the prize he coveted for so long. My heart is warmed by the thought of him looking back on his team’s triumph this summer, while he sails the seas on the world’s largest yacht, purchased with his ill-gotten gains.

So, although they won it all, Chelsea haven’t covered themselves in glory. The great tragedy in this is that they have taken their place in next season’s Champions League at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur, a team many consider to have justified inclusion in the competition.

It appears that Didier Drogba has kicked his last ball for Chelsea Football Club.

The devastating news for Chelsea supporters, and fans of the Premier League, is that Drogba has reportedly agreed a contract with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua. In an interview with France Football Magazine, Drogba was quoted as saying that he informed his teammates during Sunday’s parade through the streets of London to celebrate Chelsea’s Champions League Final victory.

Drogba added,

“We will no longer be together next season. As I decided to leave, I wanted to tell them straight in the eye. Except that I could not do it. They made me crack. Even though it’s been three years since I said I wanted to leave, I find it hard to admit that it’s over with this club – especially as I did not feel like this. But I could not see myself sitting on the bench to watch others play when the club plans to set up a new team. So that’s it – I am preparing for my leap into the unknown. It’s going to be another adventure.”

Didier Drogba’s contract with Chelsea expires this summer.

If the news is true, it’s a crying shame. I blame Andre Villas-Boas for making Drogba feel unwanted at Chelsea Football Club. After Anelka joined a Chinese club last year, there were many rumors about Drogba being contacted to play in China, too. If Villas-Boas had given Drogba more time and respect, I believe he would have seen that his future still lay at Chelsea. The incredible Ivory Coast striker still has a good one or two years left in him as evidenced by how he turned the 2012 Champions League Final around.

Farewell, Didier. We will miss you.

Chelsea footballers, staff and fans celebrated Sunday through the streets of London.

Fresh off their historic Champions League Final victory, the Chelsea players stood atop two buses as they paraded their trophy in front of their supporters. The Chelsea fans cheered on their heroes, as tens of thousands of supporters showed their appreciation for such as valiant performance against Bayern Munich.

As you’ll see in the above video, the Chelsea players also sang some favorite Chelsea songs and partied presumably through the rest of the day and night.

During the G8 Summit this weekend at Camp David in Maryland, several leaders of the world took a break to watch the UEFA Champions League Final.

In an official photograph released by The White House, US President Barack Obama can be seen with his mouth wide open during the penalty kicks, presumably when Chelsea’s Didier Drogba scored the winner. Alongside President Obama is British Prime Minister David Cameron with arms raised in victory, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel stands in shock after Bayern Munich lost.

As far as we know, this is the first time that a sitting US President has watched a Champions League Final. And since the G8 Summit was held in Maryland, President Obama and the other leaders must have been watching FOX’s broadcast of the Chelsea-Bayern Munich match.

Thanks to EPL Talk reader Todd for the news tip.

David Luiz was interviewed by Sky Italia after the 2012 Champions League win against Bayern Munich, and it looks like he was either drunk on spirits or high on life — judging by the hilarious interview.

Luiz played a pivotal role in blocking Bayern Munich’s attacks yesterday.