Timeline : 28th April 2012
One of those days for a Chelsea fan – being within days of the Champions League Final, having witnessed an epic turnaround after a below-par season, believing that nothing seemed impossible after that.
RDM had carried Chelsea to within touching distance of that one trophy which had eluded the London cabinet. Many fans had already started to believe that RDM had proved enough to deserve a permanent job. And then came a story; a certain German under-21 International had been snapped up on a 5 year deal.
At 23 years old, Marko Marin clearly portrayed Roman’s dream for a younger, fresher Chelsea. Marin then went on record to state that he would ‘obviously’ be rooting for Chelsea in the Champions League finals against Bayern. Oh, as a Chelsea fan, I loved that. It’s not ‘obvious’ for a German International to support a team who’s going to be playing against FC Bayern; mainly because every German footballer dreams of playing for FC Bayern some day in his professional career.
And there he was, Chelsea’s first of many signings to come, declaring his loyalty for his new club. Fans always adore such players, and they did.
Timeline : Summer transfer window
Chelsea had won the Champions League. Laurels were being sung about the remarkable performances of the squad. Excitement was peaking for the upcoming season. More so, about the signings to be made.
RDM had been handed the manager’s job on a permanent basis. Also handed over to him was the job of rebuilding an ‘ageing’ team. Juan Mata had had a fantastic season; Fernando Torres had shown a glimpse of his old self towards the end of the previous season. Things were going very well indeed.
Beautiful football was the agenda, and the signings were made keeping that in mind. First arrived Kevin De Bruyne, signed from Genk. Then captured was Eden Hazard, a player that half of Europe was after. After him, arrived Oscar, Brazilian wonderkid. He was followed by Victor Moses, a very talented winger. One thing, although, was common in these signings. All of them were young, sharp and attacking players.
Then came the million dollar question, how was RDM going to accommodate everyone?
Timeline : Post transfer window to current date.
I say he did a fairly decent job at rotating the squad. Moses, Hazard, Mata, Oscar, Lampard, Ramires, Mikel and Romeu; all vying for the 5 midfield slots in RDM’s 4-2-3-1 formation. Oh wait, I forgot Marin. Well, so did RDM.
Marin was overshadowed by his more illustrious compatriots. Hazard and Oscar cemented their place with impressive performances. Marin, on the other hand, was somewhat unfortunate to get injured at the start of the season.