A few bad decisions cost Roberto Di Matteo his job. The most costly mistake he made was playing Torres as the only striker and not foreseeing the consequences of doing so. We can almost blame it all on Fernando. Almost.

As a consequence of a string of bad performances from Torres, his lack of impact in the final third reverberated across the pitch, causing a knock-on effect of bad performances throughout the rest of the team. Without a real striker to take some of the burden, all of the offensive duties were laid upon the young, talented and inexperienced shoulders of his team mates, specifically Hazard, Mata and Oscar. This caused the three to push dangerously high up the pitch leaving the haphazard pairing of Mikel and Ramires way too much work to do, which led to them being stretched across the pitch. This made supporting the attack, holding the ball, linking up play and protecting the back four much too difficult a task. Especially for two center mids separated by a rather thick language barrier.

Now you can imagine how two attacking center backs such as David Luiz and Gary Cahill would have some trouble creating a strong defensive line. Again the language barrier between them prevents intricate communication, something so essential in defence. And again this combination hasn't provided strength and stability in front of our goals. We've looked like Arsenal this season, and not the good kind.

The third goal conceded against Juventus last night was a good example of the shitty defending mixed with little to no protection from anyone else in the team, as was the first 2 goals conceded against Man United (the 3-2 match).

Manchester united vs Chelsea 3-2 2012 ( watch in 480 p ) (via likeabau5FL)

Di Matteo's biggest mistakes were, in Chronological order:

1. Not pressing the board for a new striker in the summer, instead of perhaps buying either Moses or Marin.

2. Not dropping Torres for either Sturridge or Moses.

3. Not playing Ivanovic in the center when Terry wasn't available.

via i.telegraph.co.uk

Di Matteo will forever be a legend in my eyes, but put bluntly he hasn't been a good manager this season. He should have been given more time to address these problems, of that there can be no doubt, at least until January. However I think we all know the brutal philosophy of Chelsea's oligarch , and that's one thing that wont change until the day he leaves.