THE last time Chelsea were so fashionable, their players embodied the popular conception of King's Road raffishness, all hairdos and sports car rides at dawn. Ruud Gullit's players went out to celebrate the New Year, he told us, but they did it together, and they were under control.
They behaved like professionals, and on Saturday they earned their dividend with a professional performance in which goals from Dennis Wise, Craig Burley and Gianfranco Zola comfortably dispatched the challenge of a West Bromwich Albion side who toiled but never hinted at a third round upset.
Afterwards Gullit talked about the need for a mixture between the cultures, a blend of the almost monastic seriousness he experienced at Milan and the more informal spirit traditionally associated with the English league dressing room. He could show them the way, he said, but the players had to want to do it.
The changes Gullit has wrought were vividly described by the defender Erland Johnsen. "When I first came here," he said, "we used to have the racing on the telly in the dressing room until five to three. Now everyone's stretching and preparing mentally for an hour before the game."
Weekend reports suggested that Johnsen may soon be on his way to Manchester City, but his was among the names highlighted by Gullit in an explanation of the need for a large squad and for star players to accept the inevitability of a rotating selection. "Whether Fit's Vialli and Hughes or Johnsen and Duberry, everyone has to learn to accept it," he said. "It's the reality nowadays. I need them all."
Still, as Ken Bates pointed out in Saturday's programme notes, a quiet disposals policy can make a dramatic acquisitions programme possible. "Last month's sales of Spencer, Peacock and Phelan, added to Izzet and Barness earlier in the season, means that the net cost of Leboeuf, Vialli, Di Matteo, Zola and Grodas is just £6.5 million," he wrote.
The replacement of Hughes 10 minutes from time by Vialli, returning from a five match absence, demonstrated the effectiveness of the big squad system. The Welshman had performed with his customary combativeness against the First Division opposition, making the opening goal for Wise after 38 minutes by cushioning Zola's incisive pass and then, a minute before his withdrawal, hitting the outside of the right hand post with a careful shot.
Vialli, paired up front with Zola, quickly found his stride. It was his deflected shot in the last minute which came back off the post and allowed his alert partner to tap in the third goal.
Two touches from Di Matteo, Chelsea's third Italian, had already lit up the second half. His delicious ball after 75 minutes enabled Burley to flick the ball with delicate timing past the West Brom goalkeeper, Paul Crichton, and 10 minutes later an instant volleyed back heel to Zola produced a pass that almost gave Burley another score.
