Claudio Ranieri - Proud Man Walking

The occasion was extraordinary not only for the atmosphere created by the supporters, but also for the brilliant sun shining down on London, ready to light up this big, big derby. We started off with a classic 4 – 4 – 2, with Petit in midfield and Mutu and Jimmy up front. I was especially happy at being able to give Manu a start for the first time after a long injury spell. For me, he is a world champion in the true sense of the word: unbelievable determination and leadership, and footballing skills that everyone has admired down the years. At the beginning of the season, when we sat down with Abramovich and the new management to discuss the individual players we already had in the squad, I explained at length just how important Petit was to our cause. A player who has the ability to be decisive in so many ways on the field, and whose return, even in a side full of medal winners, was of absolutely fundamental importance. To see him in the middle of the park in the biggest derby of the season was hugely satisfying for all of us.

After twenty minutes or so Tottenham went 1 – 0 up – Frederic Kanouté the scorer – and I decided straight away to change things around, playing three at the back with Melchiot alongside Terry and Desailly. I needed to restore the balance tactically. I knew even beforehand that with Hoddle normally playing a back line of three and a playmaker (Jamie Redknapp in this instance) between the defenders and the midfield, we might run into difficulty, but this is precisely the reason I often make changes during the course of a game. First I want to see if my team can adapt to situations as they arise on the pitch, then, if necessary, I make adjustments. It is a way of helping my players to develop, to show their tactical maturity, but obviously, getting the result must come first. Having found the right setup, and with the determination we had, I felt sure we could win the game. And indeed after just a few minutes we equalized, thanks to a nice collective effort rounded off with a header by Lampard from Gronkjaer’s cross. A few seconds later and we were ahead, Mutu scoring from an assist provided by the ever-dependable Duff. This is how a great team responds: forceful, showing character and determination but staying clear-headed. Another moment of significance for the season came in the second half, when I decided to bring on Makelele. He had been on the bench at the start, as I wanted him to get a good look at his new surroundings before taking part. Claude was the last player we had bought, but certainly not the least in terms of importance. He would be the balancing element in midfield. I have always believed that top teams should have a key midfielder playing deep. Besides being quick, Claude had the knack of always being on hand to help out his fellow players, and positioning himself in the right place at the right time. So, could I have picked a better match than the Chelsea-Tottenham derby to introduce him to the atmosphere of the English game?

Still echoing in our ears was the cry of ‘ Muuuuu-tuuuuu …’ that always goes up when Adrian scores. Running onto a brilliant through ball from Joe Cole, he made the result completely safe. It ended 4 – 2, and this was a very important game in several ways. It was a good performance following the break, albeit with minimal preparation; the debut of Makelele; the ability to come from behind; the win; and some nice goals and assists.

There had been a few concerns certainly. These were early days with the new look Chelsea, but the players seemed to be putting themselves under pressure needlessly. It was irritating that we only seemed to get into our stride after going behind, and that having worked to put things right and opened up a two-goal lead, we then allowed our opponents to pull one back. The boys had to work on their concentration, and I said as much at the post-match press conference. But it was a win, and with three points in the bag I was not about to start losing sleep over things I knew we could put right.

It was good to have the memory of the derby win to take with us into that other big adventure we were about to embark on: the Champions League, now more than ever the competition everyone dreams of winning. Myself included, naturally. As a player I never even came close, but as a coach I knew that the European stage was the one of the best places to ‘discover’ a player or see particular game plans being put into practice.

The calendar had us making our Champions League debut not only in a wonderful city, Prague, but also against a particularly well-balanced team, Sparta. The first surprise I had on the trip was when I walked into my hotel room. They had given me an incredible suite. I had never seen anything like it before in my career, and probably never will again. It had four en suite bathrooms and even a billiards table! I doubted whether I’d even have time to explore it all in the two days we were there, but it was so big we could have trained in there with the entire team.

Playing in the Champions League is not exactly the same as playing in international competitions, however good these may be. It was for this reason I decided to leave Duff and Lampard on the bench initially. I wanted to avoid loading them with too much responsibility, and instead chose a starting line-up with players who already had this kind of international experience. It was a decision I had no regrets about, regardless of the way the match turned out, though I was persuaded by what happened on the field to put both players on at the beginning of the second half. We started with a diamond midfield: Makelele in his usual position, Petit on the left, Geremi on the right and Veron behind the two strikers. Sparta were looking almost exclusively to defend, and we had to try and open up the game and create chances for ourselves. As it transpired we created many in the first half, but Mutu and Crespo – whom I had selected precisely on the basis of their previous experience – were unable to capitalize. With the introduction of Damien and Frank I changed the entire formation completely, pulling the diamond back into a line across midfield and bringing Veron deeper behind Crespo to give him more space. In the end we deserved to win with a goal by Gallas and it was an important strike, because getting off on the right foot is crucial in this type of competition, especially away from home. Scoring goals is not such a rare occurrence for Willie, and in fact he had won a bet the year before among the French members of the team (Petit and Desailly being the others) as to which one of them would score the most goals by the end of the season. He is good in attack because he is always ready to exploit even the slightest advantage in dead-ball situations. It was very nice to start off our Champions League campaign with a victory, and I like these wins that come late in the game. Wins secured with a struggle are the best. They show the team is battling right to the end to get the result it wants. And it was nice to share the success with the more than 1,200 Chelsea fans who made the trip to the Czech Republic. Addressing the post-match press conference, I quipped, ‘Well, I’m still in my job, contrary to what some people in the press are predicting. Maybe I should sack myself and do them a favour.’ Controversial statements are generally not my style and the delivery was light-hearted, not least because I genuinely had no reason to doubt the soundness of my relationship with the new management. On the other hand, with all the dreary negative comments that contrasted with the results, I had felt obliged to make a point in some way.

Back in London, we needed to look after a few players who had picked up injuries on the trip: Mutu and Desailly had ankle problems, Veron was complaining of a troublesome Achilles. Nothing too serious, fortunately, with an away game at Wolverhampton next up.