Claudio Ranieri - Proud Man Walking

On the same day the Crespo transfer was confirmed, we played the return leg of our Champions League tie with Zilina. With a 2 – 0 result from the away leg and the superiority over the opposition that the scoreline suggested, this honestly was the comfort zone, but I was by no means going to make wholesale changes simply in the name of squad rotation, not wanting to send any wrong messages to the team. I gave Joe Cole a start and reintroduced Celestine Babayaro. Nothing sensational. I also brought on Robert Huth in the second half, and the German showed straight away that he was worth his place on the pitch. A nice headed goal and a free-kick that hit the post proved to me there were points to mark on his card. All plus. Armed with a genuinely dangerous long-range shot, he is also good in the air and has fine defensive qualities. Okay, these are things I had already seen from him in training and friendlies, but to have them confirmed in an official fixture, and a Champions League tie at that, was better still. Typically German, he has character and a strong physique. I am sure he will have a future in the team even if, like Forssell, it may be best if he goes out on loan somewhere next season. With his goal and two more from Johnson and Hasselbaink, we managed to win 3 – 0 and I was delighted, since we had achieved our main short-term objective of making it to the Champions League group stage. If anything, I was a little surprised by our opponents, in a negative sense; they came apparently looking to defend at all costs, even after having lost their home tie. I found this inexplicable. After the first-leg defeat, their chances of qualifying had perhaps already gone, but they could have at least used this occasion to put in a good performance. Instead they lost, and their refusal to play football contributed nothing to the show.

Two days later, the draw for the group stage was made in Monte Carlo. I watched it live on television, sitting on the couch at home before lunch, and it did not spoil my appetite in the least. I work on the principle that all teams are tough until you play them, although I must admit that some of the groups looked trickier than ours, at least on paper. We drew Lazio, Besiktas and Sparta Prague. True, it could have been much worse, but equally the widespread optimism I sensed on the day seemed to me to be premature on the one hand, and dangerous on the other. I guessed the mobile would start ringing because there would be journalists wanting to get my first impressions, but I suspect they were getting the busy tone, what with all the relatives and friends who were already organizing themselves for the double-header with Lazio. I recalled what I had said to Abramovich in the dressing room at the Flaminio after our defeat there in the friendly. My intuition had been right. Now we had to add the result. Still, I could not help marvelling at my own magical powers of prediction … and no black wizard’s hat!

We closed out the month with another home fixture, this time against Blackburn. A game I was wary of, because they are a solid side, and at the time we were to play them I was thinking that they were in for an excellent season. They have good players, an expert and strong-willed coach, and a big enthusiasm that runs right through the organization. Blackburn are the club where Damien Duff came to maturity, in every sense, and naturally I had plenty of questions to face about him during the Friday press conference at Harlington. This gave me the chance to reiterate how I see him, in my plans, as a fundamentally important piece on the Chelsea chessboard.

We had barely kicked off when Desailly made an elementary mistake on the touchline, uncharacteristic for a player of his stature. So it was that after just 19 seconds we were already chasing a goal by that man Andy Cole. If this were not enough to convince me of the way things were going, on the half-hour we had a Mutu goal disallowed. And although I never like to criticize the referee and his assistants, it looked good to me. But Mutu stepped up again soon after, swerving around Brad Friedel after good work by Hasselbaink and Veron and netting the equalizer. A great goal at a really critical moment. In the meantime I had made a change in midfield, as I soon realized that Veron would be struggling out wide on the left. I put Geremi on the right, Lampard in the middle, Duff on the left and brought Seba into the middle too, but further forward. In practice, he was now playing just behind the strikers. One minute into the second half, and Cudicini delighted everybody by spectacularly tipping over a David Thompson drive from around 25 yards out, but then misjudged the ensuing corner and unwittingly allowed the visitors to take the advantage again through Cole. From where I stood, I was unable to see exactly whether or not Petit, jumping in front of him, had touched the ball (I saw later on the TV that he did not actually get a touch) but no matter. The important thing at that moment was to equalize, not worry about mistakes. And even if Carlo had got it wrong coming off his line in that particular situation, too bad. It happens, and these are the moments when we all do better to remember how many times a goalkeeper has claimed the ball successfully. I had put Petit on to replace Duff so I could deploy a midfield diamond with the right balance. Manu in front of the defence, Veron behind the strikers, Geremi on the left and Frank on the right. I know Duff would have liked to stay on against his old club right to the end, but I had to take what I thought was the best decisions for the team, and at that stage, this was the best solution as I saw it. Ten minutes later we had our equalizer, a penalty converted by Hasselbaink, and even if this was the first time in the campaign we had not won, in the end I was satisfied. I have seen enough football to know that when things start to go wrong as they did right from the kick-off of that game, salvaging a point qualifies as a success.

Another remarkable day to mention before turning the page of the calendar. Right at the last minute, before the transfer window was due to close, the final piece fell into place. Claude Makelele. A player remarkable for his ability as a ball winner and an organizer in defence, and special for his experience of wearing the jersey of a winning side like Real Madrid. Really and truly, I could not be more convinced of this buy. If Real have been at the top in recent years and dominated in Spain and Europe, between the defence and the halfway line they owe it to this man. Of course it is the players like Zidane, Raul, Figo and Ronaldo who make the headlines, but the trophies have come no less by virtue of Makelele’s efforts. To have his winner’s mentality and competitiveness at the heart of my midfield made me breathe more easily. The jigsaw was now complete and for this I could only thank the club and praise the enthusiasm of Roman Abramovich. I had searched out all the components that could link up with the others. Not just tactically but in view of whatever I could learn about each one, directly or indirectly, even with regard to their character. Assembling a team with so many new players takes time. No-one was going to give us too much of that commodity, I knew, but at that point I was also aware that the core of the squad was made up of high-class players, and this should reassure us. I say ‘us’ because everyone would be under pressure and at the same time eager to succeed in a great undertaking.

At least two covering each position. All first-choice players. All medal winners. Now we were on the right track. It would be up to us to show that this was the squad to deliver the goods to our chairman, who had made it all possible, and to our fans whose affection for the team deserved to be repaid.