Читать книгу Proud Man Walking - Claudio Ranieri - Страница 8

The first home game of the season had arrived. Always an important occasion. There are positive vibes in the air that give the team a special boost. This year of course, the importance of everything is double or even greater. The team was introduced to the strains of Kalinka, that best-known of all Russian songs, and it seemed to me an engaging, clever, almost ironic way to present the official opening of a new page in the history of the club at Stamford Bridge. It has since become an entertaining ritual. I am always in the dressing room with the team when the announcements are made, but I see from television recordings that Roman Abramovich enjoys the idea too, undemonstrative as he is, standing up and clapping in time with the music.

On the pitch though, it is our job to dictate the tempo, and despite the setback of having Geremi sent off for a second yellow card, we picked up the three points against Leicester too. A foregone conclusion perhaps, but only on paper. We played 4 – 4 – 2 because being at home, naturally, I wanted a more attacking line-up right from the start, with Mutu and Hasselbaink up front. I knew it would not be the goal-fest some might have expected, because our opponents had nothing to lose and they would defend any way they could, so at the end I was pleased on two counts: the result, and the fact that Mutu had scored a great goal on his debut. He struck a free-kick right-footed from about 25 yards, and when the rebound came back off the wall, proceeded to despatch the ball into the net with his left. In the space of a minute, to people in England who knew nothing about him, he showed himself to be a winner, a player with an eye for goal capable of shooting accurately and powerfully with both feet. He was eager to make an impression and I was pleased he managed to do just that.

A couple of days later, one of the two pending transfer deals was nicely wrapped up at last. Crespo was now a Chelsea player, and even if the financial commitment was considerable at £17 million, the news was certainly something to celebrate. Hernan has lots of experience although he is still relatively young. Above all, he is a player with 109 goals to his name in Serie A, effectively a harder league for a striker than most others, which means he comes with a solid pedigree. He’s a clever footballer, the classic opportunist in the penalty area, with fine anticipation and good in the air. In short, he’s the complete forward. I tell you, a manager will always do a few sums before the start of a season. He tries to assess how many goals are likely to come from individual players, or rather from the various field positions. Say, 5 or 6 from defenders, at least 10 if not 15 from midfielders, and then a good haul from the forwards. So, if I had done my forecast again on the day Crespo arrived, I would easily be thinking in terms of another twenty or so coming from the Argentinian. The hope will be that he can justify our confidence in him by scoring them.