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Premier League stats, facts and tips: March 31

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Temporary Roberto has rescued it for Roman

Roberto di Matteo is doing Chelsea a massive favour as interim manager.

When it was ‘the project’ under Andre Villas-Boas it rocked the ship: Salomon Kalou wasn’t playing, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard were in and out of the side and Fernando Torres didn’t know if he was coming or going. Clearly there were issues.

Welcome with open arms: Roberto di Matteo has succeeded in uniting the Chelsea dressing room

Di Matteo doesn’t know where he’s going to be in two months. No-one knows what’s going to happen. What they do know is that they’re all in it together.

He has been able to galvanise the squad because there’s no long term; no philosophy. It’s just the next game they play. Di Matteo has used his man-management skills well and turned the training ground into a nicer, brighter place to be.

But it would be wrong to sit him down and say ‘the job’s yours’ before the end of the season, or players would begin to question if they have a future at the club. Instead he’s able to tell the players to roll their sleeves up and doesn’t have to promise them anything.

It has saved what looked like a poor season - now they’re in the semi-finals of the Champions League and the FA Cup, and are chasing fourth in the League.

It’s similar to 2008 when Avram Grant took over from Luiz Felipe Scolari and led them to a kick away from winning the Champions League.

No-one thought he was going to be given the job full-time at the end of the season and it worked. The Italian said he’s ‘just Robbie’ to the players; he doesn’t want to be called the boss.

Roman Abramovich appointing Di Matteo as interim boss was inspired and in the next couple of weeks we’re going to see how far Chelsea have come under the Italian.

Stop the cross: Patrice Evra

Backs to the ball

Where has the art of the full back gone? What’s happened to defenders who can block crosses?

Strikers can play up front by themselves with two six-foot-plus defenders all over them but we can’t get a full back to deal with a winger and stop a cross.

In the game it’s known as getting ‘in the line of the ball’. Even if you’re not close enough to make a tackle you make sure you get in the way of the ball, whether it hits you in the face, in the stomach or in the, er, groin.The best full backs are guilty. Patrice Evra, Luis Enrique, I’ve seen them all duck it.

I’ve never seen so many defenders who are not prepared to deal with a wide man.

So many teams play one striker with two wingers now and I think the attitude is that the two centre halves can deal with the cross when it comes in.

In so many areas the game’s moved forward since I was a player but in this way it’s gone backwards.

You’ll see it this weekend - they don’t do enough to stop the ball coming in any more.


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