THE HEAT is on Enzo Maresca at Chelsea.
And Ruud Gullit knows what that is like when a manager is under pressure.
Ruud Gullit won the FA Cup with Chelsea – only to get the boot months later[/caption]
Enzo Maresca is feeling the heat at Chelsea in the run-in[/caption]
Gullit gave Chelsea their first major trophy in 26 years but things unraveled at speed[/caption]
The former Chelsea and Newcastle boss left both jobs against his will, when results, players and fans turned against him.
Gullit was sacked by former chairman Ken Bates in February 1998, despite winning the FA Cup the previous year- the club’s first major trophy for 26 long years.
And he fears nothing much has changed at Chelsea in the 27 years since, despite changes in ownership and years of success.
The Dutch legend is unconvinced that Maresca and the Stamford Bridge hierarchy are aligned.
Today’s home clash with Spurs, the one club Chelsea fans HAVE to beat, could develop into a tipping point moment.
In a wide-ranging interview, Gullit, now a member of the Laureus Academy, questioned the direction of his former club.
And Gullit, 62, also told Sun Sport he feels Ruben Amorim needs time at Manchester United, that the Marcus Rashford “backlash” explains why players do not speak out on social issues and how he cannot understand Liverpool fans piling in on Trent Alexander-Arnold.
GULLIT ON…….CHELSEA
Chelsea to me, still, is a little bit of an enigma. I don’t know really how good they are or how bad they are.
They are looking for their identity a little bit.
They are trying to creep up the table and maybe in the long term they will be contenders for the title.
But I don’t know yet where they are exactly.
People tell me that one of the problems with Chelsea is that they change the manager all the time – so tell me something new!
I don’t get it. I don’t get what they really, really want. Even if they are successful, they still sack you as a coach.
So I don’t know. That’s why I say Chelsea’s still an enigma. I try to find out what they stand for, what is their philosophy and what is the football they want us to watch?
They haven’t got that yet, they just don’t have it.
A lot of things start with your roots.
You cannot always buy success. It’s very difficult to buy success and you have to sometimes wait and retain a certain philosophy.
Maybe Chelsea just started with this philosophy, because now they want young players.
But they aren’t players coming from the academy. They have been bought and you need to have patience.
At least when Mourinho was there, you knew what was going on. You could love it or you could hate it, but at least you knew what you’re going to confront.
They had a fantastic and very successful team.
But now we don’t know what the way up is. Still, we don’t know.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Gullit believes United should give Ruben Amorim a full season to show his credentials[/caption]
The most difficult job for any manager is if you come in half-way through a season, like Ruben Amorim did at United.
Especially if you arrive when the team is already in difficulty.
I understand that you don’t know if that train will come by again, so you think ‘Okay, I have to step onto the train now – it’s Manchester United and I might not get the chance again’.
But coming in half way through has been very difficult and to be fair to Ruben we have to judge him next season, when he has the chance to do his preparation, can buy the players he wants and get rid of the players he doesn’t like.
It’s been tough. The reality is that you can ruin your reputation coming in at the point he did with a team in trouble.
So it’s hard to make any real difference – although you do get exceptions, like the job David Moyes has done at Everton – but most of the time you can’t make a lot of difference.
He hasn’t had the chance to really show what he can do there.
He needs to have another season, from the summer, to work on the things that he needs to work on, get the players that he needs to play. Then we can really judge him.
SPANISH DOMINATION
Real Madrid could win yet another Champions League crown this season[/caption]
The two best teams in football are from Spain – the national team and Real Madrid.
They are both exceptional and that’s why they are the big contenders for the Laureus World Sports Team of the Year Award.
We saw Spain in the Euros, how good they were, especially Lamine Yamal, who is another nominee and is an unbelievable talent.
It is why I see Spanish football is dominating again. They are incredible.
But what I do like about Real Madrid is how they can transform themselves in the course of a season.
Before Christmas, they looked like they might go out of the Champions League early.
Now you look at them and think they will win it AGAIN.
MARCUS RASHFORD
Marcus Rashford is hoping to kickstart his career at Aston Villa[/caption]
One of the problems with being a sportsman is that you only have a short career.
You have maybe 16 years and you have to live for that.
You can’t be a sportsman and a politician or an activist.
Look at Marcus Rashford. He did a great job in England with his project on school meals.
He was leading a very good cause, helping the kids in schools.
But he suffered the backlash, where he was accused of being too busy with other things to concentrate on his football.
That was ridiculous, awful, horrible.
It just shows that sportsmen to talk about politics or human rights is so difficult, because of what follows, even when you are doing something for all the right reasons.
All the time the criticism is that footballers have nothing to say. But this is why – because if you do say something your words get used against you. So you can never win.
LIVERPOOL
Arne Slot’s Liverpool are marching towards the Premier League title[/caption]
I didn’t anticipate Arne Slot would be so successful.
But one of the reasons he has done so well is the set-up he walked into at Liverpool.
Liverpool knew exactly what Jurgen Klopp was about and what he would do.
He was hired because he would bring a certain way of playing football. They played four-three-three, attacking football, and were very successful.
And when Jurgen said he was leaving, they went out to get a new coach who does exactly the same.
Yes, a few of the small details are a bit different, but most of the things are just exactly the same.
That should be done by a lot of clubs.
First, decide your DNA as a club, how you want to play and then put the right coaches in place. That’s exactly what Liverpool did.
Arne has done exceptionally well. I didn’t know if he was going to do this, and the majority of people are surprised that it’s gone well.
But if you know Slot, and I do, he’s a nice guy. He’s very educated, talks well, speaks perfect English, so he doesn’t have to translate from Dutch to English.
He’s just a good guy. Psychologically, he’s very good with the team. So I’m very happy for him.
TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
Trent Alexander-Arnold is preparing to swap Merseyside for the Spanish capital[/caption]
The reaction to him moving to Real Madrid is strange to me – something I don’t understand.
Maybe it’s me but I just don’t get why there’s been so much criticism on him.
Look – the biggest club in the world wants him, simple as that.
You can also say to him, ‘You’ve been great for us but congratulations, go and do well there’.
Why is that not possible? Why is that so strange?
After all, it was only a few months ago that he wasn’t in the team and everybody wanted to see Conor Bradley playing at right-back.
Now, all of a sudden, because Alexander-Arnold wants to go to Real Madrid, everybody is upset.
I don’t understand that.
We are talking Real Madrid, the best club in the world. It’s a fantastic move for him. Be happy for him.
I just don’t get all the fuss. If he was leaving for a lesser club than Liverpool, just for the money, then maybe.
But it’s Real Madrid. Real Madrid!
*Ruud Gullit is a member of the Laureus Sports Academy and speaking ahead of the Laureus World Sports Awards, the “Oscars of Sport” taking place in Madrid next month