New owner Roman Abromovich spent well over $160 million this past summer to push Chelsea FC ahead of Manchester United and Arsenal but so far, with one match left in 2003, the Blues have simply kept the third place with which they finished last season. The Straits Times has a decent article on their near term outlook. The pressure is on manager Claudio Ranieri particularly as he’s faced rumors all year that his boss is simply waiting for England to finish their Euro 2004 effort to name Sven Goran Ericksson as the new man.
American fans think they put pressure on but to me it seems nowhere near what the top English and European soccer clubs get from theirs; Chelsea have only played 18 games so far, after all, and have many new starters and top subs who need some time to gell. Third place in the EPL, after all, means another spot in the Champions League where they won their opening round group this year and are through to the final Sixteen. This is what I call tough love.
BillSaysThis 